The Velveteen Rabbit Series

The work considers the relationship between the inner self and the ever-changing public persona in society. I am interested in manifesting this dynamic through photographic installation. Considering the many personas of the self that is presented to others, photography and stitching are employed to create a multi-layered self-portrait. Various photographic self-portraits are printed and collaged on semi-transparent organza fabric. This process is done using two methods: inkjet printing and cyanotype exposure on fabric. Resembling a deconstructed quit, these images are pieced through fabric sheets sewn together with loose, vein-like stitching to make larger fabric panels. Suspended, each panel is installed in close proximity which layers and blends the individual photos of the figure into one larger portrait and frame. Lace is juxtaposed with the repeated layers of represented flesh. Cuts and trailing frays of the organza act as an unraveling within the layered panels, suggesting the portrait is in a state of fragmentation. This fragmentation of the image disrupts the perception of the subject as a whole. The self and public person both align and collapse on one another. The work invites viewers to look between each layered image and to know the many faces that make up the self.