LIFESTYLE SUPERMARKET

“Personal identity’ is no longer accepted as a fact, but is rather considered as a never-ending task.

“Personal identity’ is no longer accepted as a fact, but is rather considered as a never-ending task. Postmodern society looks like a supermarket of lifestyles where the individual is deemed to shop together his identity.” (Jos de Mul)

Since 2003 Lybeer photographs the experience of today's living in a highly artificial world. Her early works focus on the staged and controlled environments of gated communities and theme parks. Recently she photographed people who define their identity through codes and masquerades, demonstrating membership of one group while distancing themselves from mainstream society.

The series ‘The Furtastic Adventures of The Cabbit and The Folf’ emphasis on the furry fandom and consists of ‘fan groups’ of anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities. Lybeer photographed Belgian, Dutch, French and German members of the furry fandom. In those portraits, she has taken back the so called furries to their own living rooms. The costumes that show us the participant's character when in ‘furry mode’ clashes with the homely atmosphere that reveal small things about the participant when ‘out of character.’

The series 'Epidermis II' consists of uncanny portraits of members of the zentai community. Zentai is a term for skin-tight (often flesh-coloured) suits worn to cover the whole body. People transform in a new ‘simplified’ self. The feeling of being totally enclosed and separated from the rest of the world. Lybeer invites the members to her own living space. A generic atmosphere is created where humans transform in silhouettes and resembles more nude manikins or default avatars. In the act of disguising and movement, she captures a moment of stillness when they transform from their natural identity into a faceless form.