Make-up


One of the most remarkable gains in the art of last century has been the possibility to make free use of the evocative power of objects, which artists can channel in various directions. In my work, I try to provoke the viewer’s immediate recognition of the material, allowing them to encounter unexpected relations between mundane, everyday objects and the obsessions that fuel their use.

My artistic exploration addresses the neuroses arising in the name of desire, using materials that might trigger a memory, sense of nostalgia or sentimentality. These things normally occupy the private sphere and are often marked with a compulsion for feminine beauty; patent leather, fake nails, pantyhose, make-up, and hair. They are employed as part of the rituals in which we partake to attend to our bodies, and often reflect an uneasy mix between pleasure and shame. In Untitled (Self-Portrait in Kisses), 1998, self-hate and narcissism became inextricably bound, as I applied many different shades of lipstick to my lips and kissed my own image in a mirror…




Sarah Gjertson