Artist Statment
As an artist, I work with familiar media images in order to reflect on how society molds beliefs and ideas about itself and different cultures. In my research I explore how this phenomenon generates superficial judgments about the "other".
A Story About Gnomes
In my recent series I've been photographing myself in different environments for exploring scale and identity. At the same time I have been photographing my niece, generating ambiguous relations between both figures with the action, the place and the posture. My intention is interrupting the process of perception by altering the rules of conventional photography. I am interested in not placing my niece or myself in a vulnerable position, but more the viewer. Making him wonder if it is dangerous or funny. I like the discomfort that the visual image can generate, the uncomfortable position of ethics.
The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games are series of self-portraits that explore the classical idea of virility (from the Greek) or what it means to be a man. Taking into account that virility is related to muscle, health and fitness, I began an extreme diet to modify my physical characteristics, lowering my weight and changing slightly its appearance. All of the uniforms are custom made and fit perfectly the characteristics of my own body. In most of the images and their executions I reveal my limitations in performing some of the Olympic sports, however when combining a fit body with custom made clothes I explore the idea of uncertainty with the projection of my figure, that leads to blur that boundary that excludes me from what is considered a standard body size. The Olympic Games is a photographic project in which I question the use and abuse of a figure like my own for years, working with the projection of my body and forcing it to adjust to the body of what is considered an Olympian athlete.
Action Heroes
In my recent series, entitled Action Heroes, I've been photographing myself as heroic male characters, stereotypes that have been exploited in mass media for years. My exploration addresses issues of identity and masculinity by portraying myself in roles I would never be able to inhabit in real life because of my physical characteristics. By projecting my own image, a body type considered outside the average, I hope to question not only what is considered normal but also the prevalent visual imagery representing idealized masculine, heroic characters in fiction and daily life.
Santiago Forero