Dreaming/Drowning

This series of paintings explores the themes of womanhood, vanity, body-image and aging through the lens of the mirror selfie.

Using her own photos as inspiration, Elle re-imagines her image through an ethereal under-water filter. Playing with the tensions inherent within this form of self-expression, she poses the question, are selfies a conduit for our dreams, or a symptom that we’re all drowning?

Freezing and owning a fleeting moment of confidence, surely has more than surface value? But can a permanent record of hitting any kind of aesthetic benchmark ever be purely innocent, if it also serves to remind us of the prescriptive standards so many feel beholden to?

As we age, perhaps selfies can be an act of defiance. Through the curation of our own image, they’re a way of feeling more visible in a world where older women feel disappeared, submerged by oceans of responsibility; externally no longer shiny and new, but inside undimmed, maybe stronger and more vibrant than ever. Even if we never show these images to anyone but ourselves, maybe there is value in this simple act of recording our own existence.

Dreaming/Drowning

60 x 80cm Acrylic on Linen

White Tux, Neon Clutch

30 x 30cm, acrylic on canvas

Blurred Lines

60 x 80cm Acrylic on Linen