An exploration of femininity, passion and emotion
by Rosa Gill-Taylor
I started off thinking about traditional Western portrayals of women and femininity. And what could be more typical than the Virgin Mary? The perfect mother rather than the fallen woman.
I was interested in exploring how these ideas were still alive in the twentieth century. And breaking these down and building up my own pictures of women.
“Elegance is the only beauty that never fades.”
Audrey Hepburn.
In this series of five portraits I’ve tried to layer our deep, personal and intimate selves within a stripped back portrait form.
My self-portrait sees me exploring if I could imbue an apparently conventional depiction of elegance with something of the loss, absence and effort of self-composure that comes with performing a particular kind of femininity. And to think what resistance might look like.
