Olivia Baldacci
MARY
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black and white photo of an image of a young woman with her hair in a frizzy bun. Her eyes, mouth, forehead, and torso have been cut out and replaced with black and white photos. Her left eye is a photograph of a woman drinking out of a bottle and her chest is a photo of a shoe in nature.
LOOKING GLASS
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An illustration of a woman with an open mouth leaning over and looking at her reflection in a mirror. She is composed of short perpendicular lines that are white, gray, and black. The image reflected back at her has a firm facial expression with serious eyes and a closed mouth.
COMPOSITION
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A magazine cutoout of two figures who are composed of found imagery of plants, flowers, bugs, as well as historical images of men in war - on tanks and hiking - with black and white photos from a wedding. The background is a magazine page with the ocean.
Artist statement: As a collage and mixed media artist, my practice revolves around the intersection of identity and media. Central to my artistic inquiry is the exploration of how media narratives intricately shape our perceptions of identity, perpetuating stereotypes, and rigid societal roles. I find collage to be the perfect medium for this exploration, as it enables me to manipulate real-world imagery, which often serves as a vehicle for the construction and reinforcement of norms.
Through the physical act of stripping and reshaping these images, I engage in a process of interrogation, challenging the entrenched notions and ideologies they represent. My work is driven by a desire to derive meaning from the constant influx of images inundating our visual landscape, while also aiming to facilitate a process of collective deconstruction for viewers. By dissecting these seemingly mundane images, which hold significant power over our understanding of the world, I aim to provoke critical reflection and a more nuanced understanding of identity dynamics in contemporary society.