Saskia Vander
@sass_artss
My body of work explores the uncanny depiction of women in seldom seen moments. I am interested in creating a union of opposites between predictable feminine ideals and violent monstrosity, punctuated by the uncanny. These highly grotesque scenes feature controlling, painful and psychologically uncomfortable human experiences which are contrasted with a smile, a heart, a ‘nonchalantness’ of the women, creating uncertainty for the viewer.
The theoretical framework I draw upon is of theorist Julia Kristeva’s concept of how ‘abject’ and grotesque subjects can be represented. The abject is defined by Kristeva as the body being a primary source of the abject; the abject being a form “nonbeing, neither fully subject nor object”. For example, fluid the body creates (blood) expels for the body that now hovers in this in-between space; being a part of us (subject) and now it exists independently of us (object). In an article by writer Emine Şentürk she states, “The character is trapped within her abject existence … yet finds herself perpetually hindered by the constraints of her social and physical abjection.” This theory extends into my work, placing the female subjects in this in-between state, where the abject and grotesque allow me to explore ways in which women assert their “autonomy through monstrosity”.
View the work: Building 24 Level 2, Ground Floor Gallery
