This ballerina fell into a dumpster and she still wants to dance. Except now she's missing half her body. But she keeps going and going and going. Lucky for her she is not alone.
Cathy Daley has concocted a whole series of tutus and outfits to accompany these figures as she explores what it means to be seen as a woman: the hysterics, the glamour, the beauty, the hectic lifestyle and ultimately the futility of fashion and how it feels to be both celebrated and ignored by those around us.
You'll immediately recognize yourself in these pastel figure drawings because there's something comical about their efforts to be graceful that everyone can relate to. As women we play dress-up whether its on a daily basis or on certain occasions and it is something we have been taught to embrace; the beauty of the female form, and the first thing people notice. Everything else becomes secondary, that's why there are missing elements here; our bodies are not ours alone, they're shaped by those who watch us. Similarly, as seen in the works of Cindy Sherman we often participate in this exploitation and trivialize ourselves in the process. Perhaps that is why these figures are always disappearing in one way or another or have in fact already disappeared. There's also a spirit of anonymity here that intimates that what is absent is ours to choose. And maybe it is sometimes chosen for us.
I decided to take some liberties with these works, prompted by their lack of titles, and gave them a short narrative by adding my own captions. I hope Ms. Daley doesn't mind.
Girls just want to have fun:
I'll wear what I want to because I'm a Polka-dot-door:
You can be elegant too:
Can you see me now?
I think I ate too much cotton candy:
I can't take it anymore:
I heart fashion:
Elizabeth it's Oprah, how are you doing dear?
Quick hide me:
How did this happen?
They warned me about being too skinny:
Why don't you try this on for size?
How can I ever own up to all of this?
Wait, I'm just going to pretend I'm a cloud:
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