Cindy Sherman Imitation Project
Artist's Statement
For this project, I created three images based on the work of Cindy Sherman. The assignment was to work off of pieces created by well-known contemporary photographers in order to learn more about their style. It was an exciting challenge to recreate another artist's work. I loved trying to parrot the particulars of the photos down to every angle and detail, but it was fun to sneak in my own alterations as well. For example, in the third piece there is a picture of a clown taped to the top left corner of the mirror in the original photo, but in my piece I replaced the clown photo with a print of the actual picture I was echoing. This addition adds repetition to the photo and adds intrigue by creating an effect of a picture within a picture. I loved adding these subtle surprises to the scenes I created.
Another reason I loved working on this project is that it involved a lot of hands on work with cosmetics, set design, and lighting. It required me to be resourceful. In the first image for instance, the lip of my hat didn’t stick out as far as the hat in the original photo. This was an important detail because it added to the 1920’s style of the piece. As a solution, I stuffed cotton balls under the lip of the hat to make it stand out farther. These kinds of secrets behind the images are what I love most about this collection.
Through this assignment, I also came to love working with self-portraiture. I loved having complete control over how the image turned out. From the camera controls to the subtleties of the facial expressions, I got to control it all. I got to be the model, the light technician, the set designer, the photographer, and much more. This project is one that has had a lasting impact on the flavor of my work, on how I go about creating photos, and on my process in staging a photograph.