The Nudes Project

In the age of iPhones, the term “nudes” has a different connotation. It refers to the self-taken female nude, with the intention of being sent for the receiver’s pleasure. Online, hundreds of articles are titled, “How to Take Good Nudes,” assuming only females as readers and males as the intended photograph-receiver. Since our bodies are accessible theoretically anytime and anywhere, the pressure for a flawless photogenic body is at an all-time high for women. And evidently, there is a formula for the perfect nude – one that any man will love!

I’d like to eradicate the formula and receiver, and focus on celebrating the female body for what it is and whose it is. Can the human perception of “attractive” or “sexual” be redefined? Can it be reshaped so that it doesn’t need a definition or shape at all? I will work with female volunteers and myself to create a painting series that will redefine the female nude self-portrait, by taking atypical and stereotypically “unflattering” poses of the female figure but paint them in a way that can be perceived as beautiful and/or sexual bodily landscape. I will heavily consider the personalities of my female subjects and their opinions on what taking a “nude” means to them, how they regard their bodies, and how they think their bodies fit into society. The subject and I will work together for photoshoots. She will remain anonymous, but the paintings will depict her identity and views, and therefore objectify her with agency and pride.

My main influence is feminism in the context of the female body. Having struggled with Body Dysmorphic Disorder for many years, I constantly think about societal standards in comparison to the natural female form and what humans innately perceive as beautiful. These thoughts have made their way into past paintings and artwork, but I haven’t developed them as completely and maturely as I will this semester. I’m drawn to Lucien Freud and Lisa Yuskavage’s paintings of nude females firstly for their incredible rendering of flesh, but mostly for their atypical depictions of women. Freud remarks on realism, beautifully painting real women in unattractive poses. He reshapes women who society does not regard as attractive into fine art, celebrating their bodies for what they are. Lisa Yuskavage celebrates female sexuality by completely eradicating any censorship and enhancing sexual body parts, poses, and scenes. Both artists display what society shies away from.

The female nude has been studied countless times, but I would like to make portraits of the self-portrait, involving and reflecting the subject onto the canvas while leaving her identity unknown. It’s difficult for young women to detach themselves from societal pressures at an age the media urges is their peak attractiveness. Feminism is alive and well, but there is a difference between reading or hearing about how stereotypically beautiful or sexy ideals are socially constructed and seeing it, feeling it, or being it in the form of an artwork. It will generate empathy and understanding of the female body. Also, people oftentimes feel like art is untouchable and that they cannot speak about or analyze it if they haven’t had experience. I want my project to be in conjunction with conversation.

I want women to stop feeling embarrassed and ashamed for being natural, sexual beings, for discussing or flaunting their sexuality, or for appreciating their own splendor. They shouldn’t have to follow a formula for sex appeal and beauty.