Radiance
“Radiance” is a large-scale lipstick crafted with mainly steel, cardboard, newspaper, and a glue adhesive that showcases the beauty standard for women and to encourage others to defy gender norms in regards to self expression.
This lipstick container represents makeup as a whole, and how society has implicitly set these rules for women that they should wear makeup to be considered attractive. However, women who wear too much makeup are told that they are trying too hard. No matter what one does, society will always have an issue with it so I believe it's important to just wear what makes you feel happy. Makeup also shouldn't be assigned to just one gender, but rather to anyone who views their body as a canvas, using it as a way of self expression. To represent the defiance of gender expectations, I sliced the lipstick in half with a steel plate as an opposition to these norms. I created the container holding the lipstick out of steele rings that I plasma cut, bent, welded, grinded and painted, that progressively appear more jagged and unsteady moving upward, to highlight that gender norms have a very complex and deeply rooted history, and to truly defy them, it's important to break down our own biases and reconstruct our way of understanding gender.
Growing Pains
This piece is a mainly wooden structure made from branches I handpicked with wire, nails, wood glue and laser cut leaves I designed using Illustrator, representing how our lives have been consumed by technology in one way or another.
At the bottom of the branch piece are different wires frayed, jagged, and chaotic, representing the roots of a tree and the concept of technology. Following up the piece, there is a second stick hugging the thicker stick that wraps around it, as a symbol of security and at the top of the stick, are wooden leaves to resemble a tree and its man-made reinterpretation. I wanted to capture the reality of how technology controls how we think of ourselves and others, and often takes away our experience in nature. As we get older and grow up in this progressive technology-based society, it's painful to feed our brains with societal expectations like beauty standards and toxicity found online for example. Our phones are always attached to us, causing us to miss the little things in the world that we could learn to appreciate if we just look up.
Side
Back
Laser cut leaves
Wire close up
Placement for leaves to dry
Sanding process
Before drilling holes for sculpture to detach for travel
