Jamie Owens
In one aspect of my work, I paint nude figures within natural landscapes. My focus for this work is to bring attention to the environmental disconnection that is prominent in the post-industrial digital age. I manipulate the pose of the figure to communicate meaning to the viewer. In many of my works, the purpose is to disturb the viewers' voyeurism. In doing so, the body is performative in contradicting societal norms of feminine subjectivity. The imagery often portrays underlying symbolism that uncovers normalized customs. This work makes me reflect on my own experiences; how I was socialized, my relationship with my body, and my past traumas. Investigating this kind of subject matter prompts emotional and psychological evaluation which allows me to evaluate my identity and its relationship to my environment.
I am implicating traditional art-making practices and techniques by using oil paint on canvas, charcoal, pastel, ink. By mixing traditional media and digital media, I use contemporary media through a referential lens to evaluate the social context of the past to make it relevant to our present.
a young woman artist, I feel that I touch on something taboo and against the rules of feminine passivity. I am drawn to the disruption of people's impressions of sexuality and gender performance. I explore themes of the body, organic imagery, historical narrative, and identity. Through this process, I investigate my past sexual experiences, trauma, and mind/body connection resulting in self-discovery. I start these conversations with the acknowledgment of the social context associated with public eroticism and nudity. I want to help people consider their initial reactions and think about the root of their beliefs revolving around these themes.
In my most recent works, I focus on my experience nude figure modeling. Every shift I show up and drop the robe. I stand up on a podium and perform emotions with my body. I show intimate and vulnerable aspects of myself, which most people only share with significant others. Modeling is a part of the foundation for artistic upbringing in the educational system. This profession has been used as a tool for artistic expression throughout art history. By bringing light to art modeling itself, I reclaim the historical narrative of the male gaze, classicism’s exclusionary practices, and the performance of modeling. By using a historical practice, and making references to these concepts through medium, composition, and the nude female subject in a contemporary setting, I make historical themes of female objectification, sexual taboos, and gender expectations relevant to the present moment. The model's image was historically replicated for the male artist’s consumption and commodification. This objectification continues to be reproduced in mainstream culture. Culturally, female sexuality has been disregarded and shamed. By using the body, and erotic content, I point out these taboos. My artwork is a way for me to contextualize myself and combat some of these expectations. By using my own body in my artwork, I gain ownership of my own image as well as to relinquish it to be shown in the context of art.
Contact:
Instagram @Queendom.jpegallery
Email Queendom.jpegallery@gmail.com
