Adrienne Noelle Werge

The Princess and the Pea
chromogenic mural
40 x 50 in.

Sleeping Beauty
chromogenic mural
40 x 50 in.

Things are not always as they seem.  Indeed, what was once beautiful can metamorphose quietly into the profane. In order to understand, we must peel away the sub layers and consider that which lies beneath.

The images in my portfolio prompt a second look at glamour.  By toggling between the glamorous and the grotesque, the photographs pose questions, which ultimately resolve themselves in a redefinition of beauty.  Utilizing the same devices as modern pop culture, the work exploits the dark side of desire, and reveals unabashedly the sacrifices many make in order to be desirable.  Most commonly criticized as showing models who are “not thin enough” to be read as anorexic (while in fact they do suffer from eating disorders), the photographs become a catalyst for a new interior dialogue.

I am interested in the truth and contradiction of comparisons.  At once telling and covert, the images indicate a macabre reality couched in the allure of fashion photography.

© Adrienne Noelle Werge