A Radiographic Subconscious Pattern Revealed (RSPR)

Beauty is not easily defined, but it is constructed through the relationship between the subconscious and our environment: it is this relationship that is being explored.

As an X-Ray reveals the inner damage and fragility of the human structure, so the viewer is taken deeper into the tiny machinations of the subconscious and observes how it constructs beauty. Specifically, the viewer would experience this construction through witnessing the union of corsetry construction with in the art works. This is integrated in the pieces, and becomes part of the medical documentation. (The artists own visual language, the artists own visual documentation). Exploring beauty’s relationship to our unconscious unraveled as a reflection of us, in this series the artist merges images of plastic surgery X-Rays and patterns of garments that have been deconstructed and undoes what it is to be bound to the convention of beauty.

The extremities of plastic surgery, being the catalyst for this visual thinking, restricting woman throughout the ages to conform to what that time period dictates. The very notion of beauty (or man’s desire for a particular type of look, inflicted on to woman though out history). The inspiration for this body of work came from a series of cosmetic plastic surgery X-Rays that was examined, each shows bolts, lacerations and mutilation signs of a subconscious and physical struggle to achieve beauty, this; coupled with the bombardment of ubiquitous notions of Western beauty, makes up the content of the works. Using the metaphoric comparison of history’s 18th century corsets as a starting point, a relationship between the two was evident. Bringing in the metaphoric connection of how society has bound and restricted our bodies and minds for centuries to conform to the ideal of the perfect woman

Sensationalized by the media beauty has affected the surgeon’s notion of beauty that has then been imposed onto their patients. The artifice of beauty was constructed in our subconscious, and brought about in a real violent physical sense through the surgery. This viscous circle in the subconscious construction of beauty is examined through this piece, as we look deeper in to the source of self-image. The viewer will create a real image of the subconscious: realizing what we take in unknowingly and how it manifests itself physically.

The corset imagery with in the x-ray serves to extract us from our relationship to society and beauty to our relationship with our own selves. This demonstrates the fragility of how the subconscious constructs beauty: its fallibility. We need to know how beauty is constructed in our subconscious. Was the surgeon constructing beauty, to who’s standards do we measure beauty? Questioning how beauty is as fashionable as the clothes of the period (constantly changing) but the concept of submitting to the conformity of the look is constant, thought out time.

The idea of beauty has shifted over time and it differs over cultures. From a pale skin being preferred in the West 100 years ago, to the emergence of anorexia or body disfigurements demonstrate how our subconscious view of beauty affects our society and us. The Western notions of beauty was explored by examining Victorian 18th century corsetry making, combined with research into how beauty is constructed, whether through proportionate mathematics or imposed social values: from the Greek archetype of Venus to digital sex symbols.

Through a process of intervening with the X-Rays, playing with the tensions of old verses new and injecting new metaphoric language in to the piece..

The artists from whom inspiration was drawn for this body of works were French performance artist Orlan who defies the traditional concept of beauty by undergoing unusual plastic surgery operations, which defy convention. Leora Farber is also interesting for this subject matter, in the way she examines feminism.

As Western images of beauty are all pervasive, the body of work seeks to uncover our relationship to our understanding of how the subconscious creates beauty. Only through our understanding can this that art can be unraveled as true reflection of beauty. The principle of the construction of beauty is universal and timeless, but beauty itself is not