.jpg)
Untitled
No. 4 (from Wonder
series) Untitled No.
6 (from Wonder series)
Chris Gamez submits Anna Gaskell
Anna Gaskell is an American artist who
focuses primarily in photography and deals with a range of similar themes and
subjects. She mainly focuses on narratives and themes around preadolescence girls and fairy tales, which is most exemplified by Gaskell’s Wonder
series.
Wonder is a series Gaskell created and displayed in her first
solo exhibition in 1997 and focuses on different girls, all portraying Alice
from Lewis Carol’s novel, Alice in Wonderland. The reasoning behind the use
of multiple girls and different sized images is so Gaskell could portray
Alice’s rapidly altering body size and forms through her journey. Another
reasoning is how in Gaskell’s narrative, all the girls exist in a narrative
timeline where there is no past or future event, only the present being
witnessed by the viewers across multiple images.
The use of a fairy tale as a narrative along
with recreating said narrative is fascinating to me. It’s always interesting to
see how each artist’s depiction of a different idea, and the way Gaskell depicts
Alice’s adventure and transformation through the photo size variations is not
that unique, it is quite effective for a visual medium. What is unique and even
original is the use of different models portraying the same Alice.
Another interesting variable is her
concept of a narrative stuck in a single, present moment. While this may not be
easy to read, this was Anna Gaskell’s first exhibition and she has grown as an
artist since then. With some reworking and a clearer emphasis on the reasoning
of multiple Alice’s present together, this series could become an even more
unique series that is quite unique on narrative perspective.
Overall, Anna Gaskell has captivated my
imagination with her unique exploration of time, narrative, and overall
depiction of recognizable characters and stories. Her depiction of young women
is unique and adds an element of creepiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment