Aspiring to Matsutake (2020 An element of the second year Developing Ideas in Art and the Environment module on the course I teach on began this semester with an extract from the book The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. As we (we, as in all of […]
My recent series “What If?” has been receiving some attention in the press lately, due to the inclusion of three of the images in the Speaking Out Exhibition at Embrace Arts, University of Leicester.
The series is based on the theoretical question of “What if we were to teach our children at an early age about the harsh realities that face some?”
Clearly, we wouldn’t dream of exposing children to such things and my work is by no means intended to be used as an educational tool but by using Barbie dolls, an iconic toy that oozes perfection, I am demonstrating that life for some is by no means perfect. The series of ten images also explores insecurity, loneliness, illness and addiction.
Do we need to document our life in this way?
We shouldn’t be taught that life is perfect.
For the majority of us, a satisfied life consists of constant deadlines, constraints, rules, boundaries and a general acceptance that life sometimes isn’t fair.
She has it tough too!
Samantha Humphreys 