All that Glitters

All That Glitters… iis an in-progress series that reworks vintage holiday photographs and creates new images to explore the decorative performance of femininity.

I’ve spent much of my life worrying about what people think of me, driven by an unrelenting quest for perfection. In many ways, I see myself in the women of the 1950s and ’60s. Like them, I learned to “put on” a persona that wasn’t necessarily me, but who I thought everyone wanted me to be.

Using these women as stand-ins for my own experience, I scratch away at the sparkly perception we present to the world to see what lies underneath. I bring that idea into the present through photographing Barbies adorned with holiday decorations. In reworking these images, I’m also reworking myself, reminding myself that what lies underneath matters more than the glitter.