ARTIST STATEMENT
The naked body and the representation of women through photography has traditionally been done trough the male gaze, where women become this passive object and is normally depicted as a virgin or a whore.
This project is born from a personal search of what it means to be a woman, where women instead of being an object become an active subject, where the right of a woman to build her own image is re vindicated: showing beauty of other bodies far from the male gaze, the force of feminine chaos and nature, the erotic sexual figure of women traditionally known as a witch, now translated into sorority, the free woman, physical and sexual autonomy. So that instead of conforming to a patriarchal rol, she embraces her erotic side and uses it in her favor.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
My name is Mariana Arrieta Ibarra, Im 29 years old and Mexican. I grew up surrounded by
photography: my grand father shot his youth in the Basque Country and his migration to Mexico on
film; my dad continued the love for it by documenting his life as a basque born in Mexico, both on
film and digitally.
Growing up, seeing my dads passion for cameras and my whole life being documented and surrounded
by nostalgia has made me search for it everywhere in my own work, having a chance at maybe
portraying it.
© Jillian Bridgeman