Ava Hayes
Statement
In a contemporary world, where distrust of images is rife, I explore the manufactured reality of seduction and beautification. Through performance, photography and installation, I examine how patriarchal society has affected our ways of seeing.
It is said that analysing pleasure and beauty destroys the essence of them. However, in a world where beauty standards have been shaped and moulded, the work showcases our struggle and anxiety to reach our forever fantasised better selves.
Through exploring times of solitude, the work blurs the line between private and public moments, making private moments public, to question acts of looking. The work puts a cynical lens on the idea of selling being “womanly” to women, exploring links between consumerism, satisfaction, desire and disappointment. Although, we partake in this intense consistent consumption of images, there is a certain disingenuousness and irony that exists within our awareness that we should not be relentlessly looking.