FARM FRESH
2024
In Farm Fresh, the deliberate removal of text from fashion advertisements compels a direct engagement with the imagery itself, laying bare the mechanisms at play. Stripped of textual distraction, the visual elements are exposed as tools that perpetuate traditional aesthetics, societal stereotypes, and the objectifying gaze on the body. By employing an intricate folding technique, these flat, commercial images are transformed into sculptural, three-dimensional forms. This act of physical manipulation subverts their original purpose, recontextualizing them into stacked arrangements resembling trays of fresh meat—a potent metaphor for the commodification of both products and bodies.
Encased in plastic wrapping and labeled in the style of supermarket packaging, these photographic objects heighten the critique of consumer culture. The Farm Fresh label underscores the dissonance between the idealized notions of freshness and desirability and the realities of mass-produced imagery and identity. By paralleling the packaging of bodies with products, the work draws attention to the systems that define and sell beauty, while questioning the societal standards that govern them. This series invites viewers to critically reflect on entrenched beauty ideals, the commodified body, and the racialized stereotypes perpetuated by such visual languages, prompting a deeper interrogation of the cultural forces shaping modern identity.
