This image is from my series titled, Delicate Resurgence and Divine Embodiment.
Throughout this series, metaphoric motifs were employed to symbolise and imagine the divine beauty of women. In this image, gold-tipped feathers partially obscured the unique features of the face, creating anonymity while alluding to the presence of something otherworldly, mythical and divine surrounding the sitter such as a guardian angel or a divine creature.
Several considerations were given to the masking / obscuring of the face. Firstly, the masking of the face is important as it disrupts the current emphasis of physical flawlessness and perfection, both considered unrealistic female beauty ideologies promoted extensively in mass media which is adversely effecting women's pyshcological, physical and social wellbeing. Secondly, since beauty is an important part of female identity; denying the viewer the identity of the sitter challenges perceptions of female beauty. And alternatively, as a mask of divintiy - in the primitive world, masks were revered and viewed as a bridge to the divine. Lastly, as a freeing of the female spirit.
