Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is much more of a cultural contextual influence on my work, stemming from her ability to be unflinching in the eyes of the viewer. Elisabeth Bronfer, in ‘Cindy Sherman – Photographic Work 1975-1995’ says, “She stages herself in scenarios by virtue of distorting her appearance, putting on costumes, performing masquerade. But by doing so she also points to the fact that, as a woman who grew up in a specific cultural context, she has also been performatively constructed by the discourse specific to the environment.” She also comments on how Sherman’s cultural context has influenced her at the beginning of her photographic portrait work through the use of her mother’s clothes eventually shifted into Sherman being affected by the change in society while society became aware of the issues that Sherman commented on in her work. Sherman rejected the grand narratives of Modernism and fought through the gender stereotyping in the media by the use of voyeurism; forcing the viewer to look upon her in situations that should only be seen by the artist.

I am interested in the way Sherman makes work. She records herself and then creates stills from her films that reflect specifically what she wants to show to the viewer. I have always been influenced by Sherman, I think mainly because she crosses the path between film and portraiture which is fascinating to me and influences my own practice. Especially since second year where I explored the notion of voyeurism.