The drop From I Bite Series (image 5 of 6) lithography
The Doll's House, lithography
Artist Statement
Though commonly equated with appeal, cuteness carries a connotation of belittlement or objectification due to the innate implication that an outside force can manipulate a cute subject. A response of pity and/ or nurturing is thereby evoked in the viewer. Through study of current inquiry by social theorists and anthropologists, as well as visual analysis of historic and contemporary artworks, the artist establishes factors that amplify the perception of a subject as cute. Such aspects include size, deformity – which may be the exaggeration of certain body parts such as eyes, or the presence of a physical ailment – vulnerability, fragileness, passivity, and more. Ideas for demonstrating these relationships come from the artist’s personal experience as a five-foot tall feminine female with atopic dermatitis. These attributes impact both function within the world and the response of the world in turn. The dynamics are then translated into humorous visual metaphors, for instance the scaly texture of eczema being represented as the scales of a dinosaur, to counteract this condescending human tendency. This body of work, titled Skin-Deep, Baby Doll, communicates an overall message of the strength and resilience of cute subjects, in contrast to the reactions their condition elicits. Here, cute becomes fierce and bold, while eczema becomes endearing.
