Medium: acrylic and collage on canvas Size: 24 x 36 inches Artist's private collection This is a piece done in response to the challenges my daughter faced with the modeling agents. They consistently found ways to focus on 'flaws' with the beautiful young girls. Instead of using the word 'editing' or 'photoshopping' the industry says the image is 'retouched'. I'm making a statement by taking one of her print comp cards and saying it is 'retouched'. The irony is it is a complete change of what she looks like. I gave her a militant vest and a cubistic face to allude to the damage done to young girls when they are consistently told they don't meet industry standards of anorexia and how they watch their images turn into something that looks nothing like them. I found an old image of Danielle as a young girl coping her face and hands and loved the whimsical elements of youth and experimentation. I used this old picture to depict that I think she's beautiful just like she is. This is my way of showing her that you can make a statement against injustice through an expressive craft such as mine or many others. This painting actually helped her see the ludicrously of the industry as a whole.
January 3, 2018