Fine Art: In Conversation

For the past several months I have been working on a body of work that focuses on women with mental illness.  This body of work is important to me because of my own dealings with anxiety, and the support (and sometimes lack there of) from my family, friends, and the world at large.

Recently, I had my opening at the Rachel Cooper Gallery, and it was a truly wonderful experience.  So many people came that they couldn't all fit in the gallery space.  The crowd was interested in my work, and I was even interviewed by a local radio station.

In this post, I will discuss some of the most asked questions from my opening, and share the answers with you.

Artist Statement:
Mental illness knows no bounds. It does not discriminate, nor judge. It has no opinion on monetary values, or age. Mental illness has no single face.
Mental illness is a little understood and often stereotyped condition that affects tens of millions of Americans each year-with approximately only half receiving treatment. For this body of work, I am focusing on mental illness in women. Because of gender roles, cultural expectations and societal treatment, women have a higher risk of developing mental illness. Due to the stereotype of women and their proneness to emotional problems, women who suffer from mental illnesses are often stigmatized. 
When one admits they have a mental illness, they lie themselves bare to those whom they share it with-this feeling of vulnerability is what my work captures for each individual model. Working with natural light in the models home, and as nude as they feel comfortable, these photographs represent the nakedness that comes with admitting to having a mental illness. Often, the people we least expect are the ones fighting the biggest battles. By asking for a statement from each model, they share with us their creativity, their hopes, their fears, and themselves in regards to their own mental illness, or the view of mental illness through our culture. 
By allowing my models this moment of exposure, this project expands from a simple portrait series to a collaboration of the reality of our own and the worlds mental illnesses. With the partnership of photography and personal statements, it is my hope that the viewers will walk away from this project with a more personal understanding of mental illness.

Where did you find your models?
I found my models by posting model calls on craigslist and Facebook.  I knew 3 of my models before hand, and the rest I met the day of the shoot.

How did you decide where to shoot them?
It was very important to me to shoot them in their home.  I wanted to shoot them each in a location that was important to them (their desk, vanity, bedroom, etc.) but I also followed the light.  If the lighting was fantastic in a room other than what they considered "theirs" I shot them both.  I usually ended up choosing the one with the more interesting lighting, as lighting is so important to me.

How did the models write their artist statements?
All models were asked to write a paragraph statement on "mental illness."  I purposefully left it very open ended because I wanted to give them the opportunity to say whatever they wanted.

Why are your models nude?
I photographed my models as nude as they felt comfortable to visually explain the feeling of vulnerability that comes with admitting one has a mental illness.  I came to each models home about an hour before I actually planned to shoot so that we could talk and get to know each other before shooting.

Did the models talk about their mental illness while shooting?
Some of the models did, some of them didn't.  I really let them lead the shoot, as their comfort was very important to me.  One girl said she had a mental illness and then we talked about a cute dress she was going to get at the mall and what her plans were for the rest of the week.  If they didn't want to talk about their mental illness, I didn't push them.

Is this the end of this body of work?
It's the end of this phase.  Something that a few people had to say about my work has actually lead to my next body of work.  I had people tell me that they didn't understand my body of work because my models didn't "look sick enough."  And that if my models looked sadder that it would have been easier to understand.  The idea that someone doesn't look "sick" is the whole point of my body of work.  This idea of someone having to "look sick" is what is leading me to do a broader body of work focusing on invisible illnesses/disabilities in general.  It is my hope that the more images people have of those who have invisible illnesses the less one has to "look sick" to be believed.

Thank you so much for your continued support.  I can't wait to continue working and sharing it with you.

If you would like to see more of my fine art work, you can go to my fine art website, www.lexiebragg.com

Women of Folklore: This Could be You

The last installment of this series is meant to bean end point for the series, but also a step for continuation.  The idea that just because you're not fighting in battles, your actions could mark you as a women of legend and lead to change in culture in our future. 

Model: Sarah Butcher

 

By fighting for women's rights, you too can leave a mark on our history and our culture. Perhaps you will be the next woman of folklore.

Feminist Protestor

My model stands in a bra as a stand against the idea that women "ask" to be raped through their clothing.

 

Common quote in protest signage

 

I wrote the sign to be a protest against feminist issues in general (although it is a sign used in many protests). 

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who helped make this project possible.  Without my models, the costume shop, the people who lent me props, as well as the people who helped me make stuff, I would not have been able to do this without you.  You are all awesome people. 

Women of Folklore: Joan of Arc

This was one of the hardest shoots of the entire series.  The chain mail was done by hand, the armor is knee pads and ankle pads spray painted silver, and the cross was acquired last minute from the antique store next door.  I'm happy that the costume pulled together at the end.

Model: Sam

Costume: Lexie Bragg

With the guiding voices of Saints, Joan of Arc won many battles for France to drive out the English.  After being captured, she was convicted by the church for heresy and witchcraft, and burned at the stake. She was later found innocent and declared a saint.

Finding costuming for this was very difficult.  There were a lot of variations of her armor, and not very much standardization.  I decided to do what would be easiest, and luckily, the costume shop had chain mail!  The sword was stolen from a friend.  

I wanted to show the "holiness" associated with Joan of arc.  I added the back lighting to give her a halo, and a more modern play on the gold circle around the head.  She is holds a cross in one hand and her sword in the other to show the importance of religion and the sword in her fight.

I want to give a big thanks to the costume shop for letting me borrow the chain mail.  I would have been so lost without you!

Women of Folklore: Mulan

In my original plan for this series, every tale came from a different country.  In the revamp, my stories became less diverse.  This is why I sought out to do Mulan (which was not in my first revamp plan).  I wanted to show the growth of feminism around the world, and how other countries reacted towards the growth in power of women.

Model: Anna Nguyen

Costume: Rebecca Jones

Taking her father's place in the war against the Huns, Mulan returned

home to question her identity in her traditional Chinese culture.

Hua Mulan

I chose to mimic this traditional style image of Mulan for my own series.  In the poem, it discusses how she puts the powder on her face to return to her position as a woman.  She holds the sword in one hand and the powder in the other as sign of the pull she feels between the freedom of being a man and the tradition of being a woman.  Described as two hares, the steps of the male rabbit sharp and sure, and the steps of the female hare twisted and muddled. 

Modern Hanfu

I was lucky enough to have a friend lend me a Japanese Kimono and sword. Even though the dress was technically not from the right country, I knew I was super lucky to have such an amazing dress.  I attempted to style it in a way that mimicked a modern Hanfu by draping the gown straight down instead of crossing it at the middle as is done with Kimonos.  

I want thank Anna and Rebecca for helping me do this shoot.  I would not have been able to pull off such an amazing photo without your help!

Women of Folklore: Blenda

Blenda's story is one of my favorites.  It is said to be the first example of equality between men and women-the beginning of feminism.

Model: Lucy Hodkiewicz

MUA/Costume design: Lexie Bragg

Sword: Dillon Moran

 

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While the men were away at war, Blenda led the town women to victory against the invading Danish army through cunning and creative tactics.

Blenda and the towns women approached the Danish army on the field of battle and thanked them for being their saviors, and saving them from the men of their own village.  They invited the Danish  to a feast to celebrate their emancipation.   The women fed the army and got them drunk on wine. Once the entire army was in a drunken stupor-the women killed them all. 

The men of the village were so proud of the women, they granted them the honor of wearing belts: a symbol of protectors of the village, as well as equal inheritance.

Selfie by Lucy

 I bought the dress from St. Vinnies and sewed on the trim and added the lacing.  The fur is from the costume shop, and the pin is a traditional Norse "tree of life" symbol, stolen from James and creatively attached with thread.

 

Memorial statue, Sweden

I had a hard time finding what a noble women would have worn for this time period.  Most depictions of Blenda had her in armor or chain male, but if she was out to trick the Danish army, why would she give away their plan by dressing for battle?  

Beowulf, a Canadian production

Beowulf and Grendel,  2005

I took my costuming ideas from Beowulf, a fantastical Norse myth that took places in the same time period. I chose this as my inspiration as I thought the cut, detailing, and accessories would be more accurate for a women of noble birth versus the peasant dresses I had been finding.  Obviously Beowulf is a popular story!

I'm really proud of how this shoot turned out.  The costuming is accurate, and I love the sword (which some might say isn't accurate, but it is very similar to the sword seen in the memorial statue; and I'm assuming that they wouldn't "wing it" with a memorial)!

A big thank you to Lucy for helping me with this project, you were the one I really wanted!

Women of Folkore: Antigone

Although Antigone is second in the series, she was actually my first shoot.  I started with Antigone for one simple reason: her dress is a curtain and it was easiest to make.  

Model: Lavender Marie

HMUA: Alicia Marie

Costume: Lexie Bragg

Antigone chose to follow the laws of the Gods over that of men, and was condemned to death for her treason.  In one final act of defiance, she took her own life instead of the long painful death to which she was sentenced.

Antigone holds a shovel and a pitcher-the shovel to be used to dig a grave for her deceased brother, and the pitcher to be used in the sacred last rights as required by the gods.  Lastly she wears a belt-one she will use to help forge her own fate. 

 

Antigone Dancing Maenad, Callimachus

A lot of research was done to get Antigone's dress right.  Her dress is a doric chiton-a fashion statement that I actually really like!  Her hair was also styled in a tradition curled up do.

 

 Madonna de los Palafreneros, Caravaggio

For this series I decided to use chiaroscuro, or intense light and darks; as often used by Caravaggio.   I have long loved the lighting used in Caravaggio's work, but was also inspired by his use of biblical stories placed in contemporary settings.  His goal was to bring biblical stories back to life by making them more relatable with simple background, contemporary dress, and to remind those of their importance with dramatic lighting.


I want to thank my model and makeup artist.  You guys were totally awesome to work with.  Thank you so much for the opportunity!

Beauty & Fear: IV

And finally.  After months of working against forces beyond my control, I finished this series!  I have had this plan (and this dress) since the summer, but we didn't get to shoot till December!  It was absolutely freezing, and poor Kendra had to lie on the frosted ground in the costume I had picked out for the summer. I was lucky enough to find a (rather random) patch of perfectly green foliage that was reminiscent of summer, and I finally had the chance to finish my series.

Model: Kendra Ozanick-Vanderhill

MUA: Alicia Marie

 

This death is less obvious than most of the others.  This girl was not very bright. Thinking she new her way around her families cabin out in the country, she decided to wonder of the path-to an unfortunate end. 

I had originally planned on using a fox in the foreground, but after the acquisition fell through, I ended up photographing paper butterflies from a coloring book and photoshopping them in later.

 Did you know that butterflies eat decomposing flesh?  I didn't either. 

I think this was a great finish to this series.  The butterflies eating the corpse add another layer to the beauty and fear that come with death.   Through this series, I have found that it is not the perfection that is shown in the paintings of death that make them beautiful-but the serenity and peace that can be found in the scenes.  I have found that the stark reality of death adds a different kind of beauty, like a tingle down ones spine, this fear can be twisted into a sort of beauty in itself-one of the reality that we all face and yet seek so much to avoid.

Women of Folklore: Lilith

This past fall I took my Capstone: a class designed to help you develop a body of work meant to help propel you into the life of an artist once you graduate.  I wanted to create a series that examined the cultural expectations of women and how they changed over time.  The series goes in chronological order, starting before the recording of time and ending in the contemporary.  

I want to thank Katherine for being totally awesome and brave for modeling for me.  The series would not have been lost without you.   And thank you to James Chavey, for helping me steal dirt for this shoot.

My series began with Lilith:

Lilith, the first wife of Adam, was created from the same earth by God.  Refusing to be subservient, Lilith was exiled from the Garden of Eden and damned to hell, becoming the first Demon.

In my version of Lilith, Lilith holds a pomegranate- supposedly the original fruit of sin.  She stands atop a mound of a dirt, symbolizing the earth that she was made from.

Lilith, John Colier

I chose Lilith because of how strength I found in her story: She refused to be subservient, and was therefore damned to hell.  It shows the horror that women have faced, in some countries still face today.

When Katherine volunteered to model for me, I could not believe how lucky I was; look at her hair!!  Her hair is nearly to the floor, what more could I have asked for?  She was amazing to work with, and I could not have asked for a better shoot (or afternoon!)

Here are some outtakes from our shoot, because how could I pass up this opportunity!