Maria Gloria Despues

My work revolves around the idea of a ‘social erasure’. The starting point is my personal experiences with acne, and looking back on how I managed to condition myself to refrain from engaging on social media – all to allow people to see through their mechanisms. I took inspiration from Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Self Obliteration’ about the abolishment of uniqueness and from artists like Bart Hess and Kim Ye for their latex work. I interviewed a variety of people to see their opinions on acne, and the general consensus was that no one wants it –  even commanding AI to give me ‘ugly’, as it gave me a portrait of someone with imperfect skin. Tribal markings and face patches were compared to see how different cultures see how they live around bumps; one covers spots, and one creates bumps. I did many samples replicating textures using hot glue, rocks sewed into fabric, shibori and made tin foil spheres, with misdirection intriguing me about warping perception, and I thought of shield bosses to create a duality between a spot-looking thing, and decorative but protective piece. Indentation was the main focus as it joins both social erasure and themes of acne through scarring. Nylon tights and scuba jersey highlighted these shapes further, and I layered them so that it resembled the layers of skin. I portrayed the human conditioning by creating a gaping limb, out of ringlets, foam and a harness, protruding from the back so the wearer can’t see it. The garment is meant to be indented at the front, to feel watched and vulnerable , and the only thing the wearer sees. The fabric gradates to the scuba, which is almost hole free, except for the hole made by the limb, to represent inner damage. I made a film with parts in stop-motion to reference those photos that were avoided being taken by a younger me, and in locations that spark childhood nostalgia. The final photo is a still image from the film, but my silhouette gets replaced by a void, and a 3D model to take my space.