Artist Statement about the Mannequins Series of Prints
Carol Hayman
These intaglio prints are from a series I have been working on for several years. The subject matter of these prints is the surreal presentation of artificial women (and a few men and children) in various stages of decomposition. The dents and missing body parts contrast with the usual decorative role of manikins, and the battered statues are a visible reminder of the hidden nature of battering. The manikins also visually comment on the position of women in society as fashion conscious consumers. The manikins are models for advertising clothing for dress shops and department stores, photographed in the garment district of Lima, Peru. The images are also a metaphor for the way less developed countries are treated by the first world. Dubious merchandise of all kinds ends up down there, to be reused, refurbished, and recycled back into the market. Leftover, outdated manikin refugees from fashionable global department stores take turns showcasing knocked off fashions, spend time in dusty corners, get their eyes knocked out or fingers smashed, get glued back together, then show up in a store window again. Peruvians spent the last decades of the 20th century surviving terrorist bombs, kidnappings, government round-ups, executions, and corruption, emerging into the 21st century battered, but triumphant, with a prosperous, glowing economy.
In the past, real people were used to model the latest fashions for customers, or for fittings by dressmakers, even standing in department store windows. Artists have also commented on this by installing themselves in store windows (Jamie Blackburn – Art4Habitat, January 2011) and even in museum settings (Jesus Benavente and Jennifer Remenchik at AMOA).
The tableaux in the prints are unposed, photographed as observed. The perspective and the process render the resulting image almost abstract. The history is revealed in multiple layers as if listening to overheard, whispered snatches of conversations and glimpsing frozen, dramatic gestures. My work illustrates specific places, public narrative events, and little glimpses of other worlds caught in everyday situations.
The depiction of women’s bodies, clothed and nude, has always been a staple of art in many different media, from Greek statues (which also are missing limbs) to modern film. Because of the often dilapidated condition of the figures, a viewer might make a connection with horror, zombie, or science fiction movies. Mannequins live in that uncanny valley of being almost, but not quite human, in an unsettling way, with almost real perfection or pathetic disintegration. The feeling is that these figures have a history, a life of their own that has momentarily paused, but might continue when the viewer turns away. Who hasn’t had the urge to rearrange the figures in a store window? Who knows what they do when no one is looking…
Carol Hayman
These intaglio prints are from a series I have been working on for several years. The subject matter of these prints is the surreal presentation of artificial women (and a few men and children) in various stages of decomposition. The dents and missing body parts contrast with the usual decorative role of manikins, and the battered statues are a visible reminder of the hidden nature of battering. The manikins also visually comment on the position of women in society as fashion conscious consumers. The manikins are models for advertising clothing for dress shops and department stores, photographed in the garment district of Lima, Peru. The images are also a metaphor for the way less developed countries are treated by the first world. Dubious merchandise of all kinds ends up down there, to be reused, refurbished, and recycled back into the market. Leftover, outdated manikin refugees from fashionable global department stores take turns showcasing knocked off fashions, spend time in dusty corners, get their eyes knocked out or fingers smashed, get glued back together, then show up in a store window again. Peruvians spent the last decades of the 20th century surviving terrorist bombs, kidnappings, government round-ups, executions, and corruption, emerging into the 21st century battered, but triumphant, with a prosperous, glowing economy.
In the past, real people were used to model the latest fashions for customers, or for fittings by dressmakers, even standing in department store windows. Artists have also commented on this by installing themselves in store windows (Jamie Blackburn – Art4Habitat, January 2011) and even in museum settings (Jesus Benavente and Jennifer Remenchik at AMOA).
The tableaux in the prints are unposed, photographed as observed. The perspective and the process render the resulting image almost abstract. The history is revealed in multiple layers as if listening to overheard, whispered snatches of conversations and glimpsing frozen, dramatic gestures. My work illustrates specific places, public narrative events, and little glimpses of other worlds caught in everyday situations.
The depiction of women’s bodies, clothed and nude, has always been a staple of art in many different media, from Greek statues (which also are missing limbs) to modern film. Because of the often dilapidated condition of the figures, a viewer might make a connection with horror, zombie, or science fiction movies. Mannequins live in that uncanny valley of being almost, but not quite human, in an unsettling way, with almost real perfection or pathetic disintegration. The feeling is that these figures have a history, a life of their own that has momentarily paused, but might continue when the viewer turns away. Who hasn’t had the urge to rearrange the figures in a store window? Who knows what they do when no one is looking…