ARTIST STATEMENT
Nicole Marie Hagg is visual artist, painter, and life model that makes work focused on breaking the standard ideals and hyper-sexualization of the nude female body in art. Her work shows the nude body in a new way that uses both local color and arbitrary color to create vibrant figure works that play with the lines between abstraction and realism. She uses self-portraits and the portraits of real women that are not only professional models, but also everyday women that have never been painted before. Symbolic elements of nature and feminine beauty standards, oppression, and motherhood are often seen in her works. These elements are directly linked to her personal experiences growing up and becoming a mother.
The nude female is often regarded as an object of pleasure for the male gaze, yet the moment a woman takes her sexuality into her control she is seen as a harlot or something easy to prey on. More importantly, a female that consents to letting her nude body be seen holds a power in herself by letting go of the fear of vulnerability and need for male validation. Women have a different connection with their body than men do because they are often put through changes that force them to adapt to survive. A woman’s power comes from the love she has for herself and her body. Women are still fighting to this day to be seen as individuals equally capable of making decisions for themselves and their bodies. All the while they are constantly being scrutinized into shaping themselves to be this perfect ideal standard of feminine beauty that they often forget how beautifully unique they really are.
© Nicole Marie Hagg