“Human art objects†is a series of still life fantastic portraits, in which human beings are represented as still, immobile objects. Decorated with symbolic still life attributes, characters become idealised by their own beauty. They are stuck in perfection, only existing through the visual aesthetics of their own image and objects around them. They are consumed by the pleasure of self-contemplation: their eyes are either closed, or looking in the mirror. When they look at you, it’s only to provoke, and not to let you in. Their narcissistic desire to contemplate, and even possess their own beauty, is representative of nowadays society.
Using the means and style of fashion photography, I try to question what is beauty in today’s society of consumerism. Human being becomes objectified, as mass media creates a standard of an ideal "cover person" - idol, iconic mask, with no personality, which is a perfect portrait of a human "face-off". Nowadays media dictates which “objects†a person needs to have to become more like this “cover personâ€, to be accepted in the society and to be seen as “beautifulâ€, “successfulâ€, “happy†etc. Using marketing techniques they appeal to us through images and videos by creating desire - often based on our sexual instincts - to possess certain objects.
In my series, I use the same means, but with a different purpose, trying to represent the paradox of today’s materialistic society – people are characterised by objects, and are being depersonalised of their individuality, thus becoming fragile, bejewelled human art objects.
To reinforce this paradox, in this series I try to present portraits as if it was still life images. I got inspired by the history of classical naturemorte, and the role and symbolism of “objects†in arts, starting from the first Flemish still life paintings to the modern conceptual art works. In my work I use a lot of still life symbols - alluring red fruits, beautiful flowers, fish and seafood tentacles, representing flashy eroticism that surrounds modern society on every step, as an evocation of ultimate sexual joy.
I present you a part of the serie, as every portrait is precious to me, and I was unable to choose only one, works have been realised between 2016-2019. This pictures can be presented separately, or as a serie. The preference of the size dimension is by portrait.