This photo, by 1920's Surrealist photographer Claude Cahun was running through the back of my mind as I made The People Pleaser. While Cahun worked most directly with gender ambiguity, show also presented feminine expectations in a new and confusing way. In the photograph above, Cahun tells us that we aren't allowed to kiss her because she's in training. In training for what? And who wanted to kiss her are the first questions that come to mind. I identify with the idea of keeping your audience at bay, while simultaneously teasing them with what could happen if they were only allowed. I also think that idea of training is essential to my work. I'm constantly exploring the ways female is conditioned and brought up through structured expectations of what it means to be "good" and feminine.
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