While visiting with friends in San Diego recently, somehow the topic of self-worth came up. My friend Veronica mentioned that the Dalai Lama didn’t understand the Western issue of low self-esteem– we are not born thinking negatively about ourselves, yet something sinister creeps in. The work of Boston area artist Jane Maxwell uses vintage fashion, advertising, and pop-culture ephemera to deconstruct the messages being sent to women and young girls by the fashion and entertainment industries.
Runway Girls and Circles, mixed media and resin on panel
Our body image issues don’t always begin with someone actually telling us we’re too fat, too skinny, too pale.. we are inundated daily, especially as women and young girls, with images of stick thin fashion models and actresses, being held up as the current standard of ideal beauty. Maxwell chooses to use silhouetted versions of these iconic figures, deconstructing them so that they become an anonymous “every woman”, which could help us to see the somber truth that these women have indeed become pawns in this game of idealized beauty.
Blue Circle Girls, mixed media with resin on panel, 48×48
Circle of Thought, mixed media with resin on panel, 48×48
Blue, collage, wax & resin on panel, 36×36
This standard of beauty seems to fluctuate with each generation, remember the days of Reuben and his voluptuous figures? Or the curvaceousness of the iconic beauties of the 1950s? When will we reach a point where women of every size, shape, and color are held up as quintessentially beautiful? Maxwell’s work recognizes that struggle within us of that longing to be lauded for our unique beauty yet we continue to strive to attain the ideal.
Walking Girls and Bullseyes, collage, wax, and resin on panel, 70×40
What are your thoughts on Jane Maxwell’s work or on self-image in general? Where do you see the struggle?
To see more of the work of Jane Maxwell, please visit her website and Facebook page. Her work can be seen in galleries throughout the US, you can find a list of her representing galleries on her website.
Artist found via Lanoue Fine Art. Images via the artist’s website and Lanoue Fine Art.
bina
January 14, 2013 at 10:02 AMThis is interesting – love the layering! x
richard p hughes
January 14, 2013 at 10:59 AMIf these are works criticizing the fashion industry, I don’t see it. It looks to me as if she’s glamorizing it even further. I don’t see any sense of despair or identity crisis or questioning of self-worth. Yes, they are faceless, but that doesn’t indicate negative self-worth. It suggests to me that beauty is in a girl’s figure, especially if she’s slim, young, and healthy, not in her mind or brains or face. It’s saying don’t look at me, look at my body, and it’s beautiful, especially if properly dresses.
Lesley
January 15, 2013 at 2:11 PMThank you for your comment, Richard, and I can see where you’re coming from– and it is what I find most intriguing about Jane’s work. At first glance, just what you described is what most will see.. but when we look more closely, especially at some of the ephemera being used, we can see a different story being told. For instance, the repeated use of target imagery bring to mind women’s looks being singled out/female vulnerabilty/or a myriad of other thoughts. I think you would find Jane Maxwell’s Artist Statement ( http://janemaxwell.com/statement ) and a Q&A from her website ( http://janemaxwell.com/q-a ) very enlightening regarding her work, the use of thin, faceless figures, and societal standards of beauty.
Dianne Taylor
January 18, 2013 at 1:04 PMI agree with Richard Hughes. I don’t see the “deconstruction.” The target imagery could also be perceived as “this is on target.” They images seem to glamorize what they purport to criticize.
Jane Maxwell
January 19, 2013 at 5:12 AMThanks so much for posting my work on the blog! I really appreciate it and also appreciate the comments. It’s so important for me to clarify that I’m not criticizing the fashion industry or the media. I am a pop culture junkie – love fashion, magazines and television. What I am doing is expressing my personal ambivalence – the key word in my work. I am fully aware that the women that grace my canvas are beautiful, thin and glamorous. In so many ways I want to be them. But, i’m also confused and angry and resentful that that is the ideal I need to strive for. I am both pulled into the culture and resentful of it. I love using targets because they represent both the danger and the reality of the struggle for me. I am at once craving the attention and focus from the outside world and pissed off that I am always striving for a new target weight or ‘look’ that will achieve that. My work is about acknowledging my own deep complications and ambivalence with that struggle. We can strive for beauty on the outside, but it’s complicated and distressing on the inside.
Lesley
January 19, 2013 at 4:05 PMJane, thank you so much for sharing your motivations behind your work here! I can see where one might make the assumption that your work is glamourizing the fashion industry & ultra thin ideal, but you’ve so succinctly addressed in words and ( I personally believe ), in your work, what is an intense struggle for most women. The love/hate relationship happens with ourselves, our bodies, and the industries that repeatedly send the message of thin = ideal beauty. As a woman who went through the first 38 years of her life in that skinny ideal, but then got married & hit 40 and BOOM body change (!! ), the subjects your work puts forth are also those I struggle with daily. The messages being sent are often sneaky and insidious, so it makes complete sense to me that your work would be a bit ambiguous.
Thank you again for commenting!
Lesley
Christina Baker
January 20, 2013 at 10:19 AMJane, I am madly in love with your work as well as your message. I have so much I could add but I think I will just allow your work to do the talking. I also see and agree with some of the previous comments made by others. I think it’s subjective and can go both ways as well as the many shades inbetween. Just stunning.