Creation Date
2015
Preview
Medium
ink, acrylic, and watercolor on watercolor paper
Description
Dimensions: 24 x 18 inches each
Rights
© Kristen Elizabeth Mollner, 2015.
Keywords
editorial, illustration, political, psychology, health, ink
2015
ink, acrylic, and watercolor on watercolor paper
Dimensions: 24 x 18 inches each
© Kristen Elizabeth Mollner, 2015.
editorial, illustration, political, psychology, health, ink
Artist Statement
The Gaze
As long as I can remember, I have been at odds with my body and this last year has been no exception from body dysmorphic disorder to skin cancer and endometriosis. I wanted to show the unexpected emotional consequences of physical ailments and the feeling that your body is for someone else’s benefit and how in addition, social standards and political policies influence our feelings about ourselves. I decided to refer to this as “The Gaze” inspired by the concept of the male gaze coined by Laura Mulvey. Instead of focusing on the male gaze though, I chose to show other types of gazes. The societal gaze which emphasizes the amount of money companies make off of body shaming. The medical gaze that can make us feel that our body is more of a paycheck to a doctor and the anxieties that go with not being able to pay off medical bills. Then there is the fertility gaze. The belief that a woman’s existence is based on the production of children and how having a painful disorder that potentially interferes with fertility can make a woman feel like her usefulness is lost in the eyes of her peers.
My body of work is heavily inspired by contemporary editorial illustration that often depicts clever and also eye catching imagery like Emiliano Ponzi and Scott Bakal. I also love the look of vintage posters and postcards and I use watercolor and ink to emphasize that style.