The notion of the Selfie is related to the self-portrait and often shared on social media. Many artists have put pressure on Facebook and Instagram to stop censorship of the female nipple (#freethenipple) in an effort to normalise it, and to protest against women’s bodies being hypersexualised.
In this series I endeavour to create a bridge between the Male Gaze and the Female Gaze by drawing upon the Parafeminist artistic constructs of irony and surprise and the 'suggestive' subject of the sexualized female nipple and lips. By adding 'suggested' layers of intimacy and subtlety through the movement of the artworks, I further exemplify the evolving construct of the Female Gaze. Through lenticular photography I have combined two images to intertwine, interrelate and virtually recreate one another in an attempt to boldly merge the Male Gaze and the Female Gaze, allowing both to cross graciously from one to the other, neither disavowing the other.
While playfully making 'objects, of what could be seen as 'abject' through the Male Gaze (a series of various women's nipples and lips), and visually merging these with other organic forms (blossoms, cacti, peppers), a beauty and 'normality' emerges. In this new view, I normalise, purify and forgive the 'sins' of the erogenous female body. By 'confessing,' by exposing, I attempt to transform, even if just momentarily, in the blink of an eye, the 'abject' from object to subject. As Helene Cixous implores women to do, I invite my body to speak a language, a woman's language that, through extension, may be 'heard' via the attention of my viewers, both male and female.
