This project was done for my final practicum during my freshman year at university.

Artist Statement:

Beauty is everywhere. Whether we look at the sky, feel a droplet of rain, or look at a person straight in the eyes, there’s always something beautiful for our eyes, heart, and soul to rest on. But what defines beauty, anyway? Is it a state of perfection that deems something as “beautiful”? Or is there something beyond picture perfect tessellations and flawless character that can explain what beauty really means? This project was born with the idea that beauty is not in the perfect, in the put together, or in the unblemished. Rather, beauty is in the brokenness. Beauty is not pretending that one is perfect and covering ourselves up to hide what’s really inside. No, beauty is raw— it’s in the imperfections, the insecurities, and the broken pieces that lie within. I interviewed three girls for this project, and each asked them questions pertaining to beauty and self-image, and the answers that I received had a common theme to them: a sense of brokenness. There was something within each girl that felt that there was something about them that wasn’t complete and wished could be changed. In today’s day and age, women face excruciatingly high standards of beauty presented by the media. There are stick-thin and blemish-free models plastered on the cover of magazines and in ads on every street corner. With such an unrealistic ideal of beauty, it’s easy for women today to feel like they don’t live up to the standard. However, once we are able to accept that everyone has insecurities, we can find ourselves going one step closer to authentic beauty. May we learn not to hide behind insecurities, and instead, embrace the beauty in the brokenness.

The photos were largely inspired by Richard Avedon, reflecting his style of photography that embodies one of utmost simplicity. For the portraits I took of the girls, I wanted to make sure that the lighting, backdrop, and any other factors didn’t distract from the main subject of the photo. The photos had to be raw, capturing the girls in the most realistic and natural way possible. No touch-ups were done on the girls’ faces or bodies. I really wanted the beauty of their own being—and nothing else—stand as the centerpiece of this work.

In all, this project consisted of a combination of interviews, photographs, pen drawings, and a digital compilation via Adobe Illustrator. The final project is printed on 11” x 17” glossy paper and mounted on black board with a string sewn to the top of the board suspending a black silhouette of each girl’s figure. Seeing the interviews go from words and being translated to art through the combination of portraits and pen drawings was a process that was difficult, but necessary to convey what the core of this project is all about. My hope is that through this project, girls can feel like their own work of art—not because they’re perfect, but because they are broken.