Art and Heritage Online Database

Collection: Gray's School of Art Collection; Gray's School of Art Design Collection
Object Type: Fashion: Photographic and Electronic Media
Artist/Maker: Clark, Mhairi
Date: 2006
Media/Materials: Digital print on textile
Dimensions: 34 cm x 46.6 cm
Awards: RGU Textiles and Surface Design Purchase Award
Classification: Design: Textiles and Surface Design BA (Hons)

Description:

Artist statement:
My work investigates the female form and ideas of female beauty. I have looked at ideals of female beauty which are forced upon us by the media and have demonstrated these ideas through my work using graphic imagery and text which, often subtly incorporated, express the way in which these beauty mantras are endlessly repeated to us. Using the naked female body as the source of much of my imagery I have investigated ideas of distorted body image as well as drawing inspiration from the textile and fashion worlds. Influence has also come from fine artists such as Jenny Saville and Lucian Freud, looking at their depictions of the human form. I have chosen lingerie as the contenxt for my work as it is inextricably linked to the body itself, selecting luxurious fabrics such as silks and cashmere because of the way they feel against the skin. Taking images of the body, changing them into something new and placing them back on the body, creating images that are somewhat surreal.

Printed textile from the artist's Degree Show featuring an image of projected imagery on a female torso. RGU purchase prize.

Object Number: ABDRG2006.28