Woman Your Duty is Beauty

This project explores trans-generational expectations on beauty, the male gaze, and the performative nature of appearance. Through a series of sarcastically staged images composed in collaboration with my grandmother we reveal our shared vanities.

’Woman – Your Duty is Beauty’ was the original title of a cosmetics handbook purchased by my grandmother in her teens, written for the women of the 1950’s. It was in her own words "the beauty bible” for the girls her age. The book was written by the famous Danish pharmacist Sven Holm who was praised for his knowledge on cosmetics and straight forward opinions on beauty. How and when to apply your makeup – and most importantly: how to please the male gaze. For my grandmother and her friends this was their only source of education on the subject of social etiquette and they all swore to the holy words of Sven Holm.

This photo series is a rigorous yet ironic analysis of the beauty standards and norms imposed on women, the harsh self-judgment they endure, and the care they extend to others. “Woman - Your Duty is Beauty” discovers the trans-generational vanity between my grandmother and I – acknowledging that pleasing the male gaze was a controlling part of both our lives. Through carefully shaped light and bold, dramatic color, I create scenes that feel both theatrical and intentionally staged. These images are satire showcasing the artificiality of beauty trends and the vanities that follow. Set within the intimate space of what most likely is my grandmother’s house, the photographs are illuminated by her presence, creating a delicate dialogue between us as we navigate similar struggles and insecurities.

My approach to a potential exhibition is intentionally restrained. All works would be framed behind glass in matching smoked oak frames, creating a coherent and understated visual language. I envision the works speaking for themselves, unfolding as a slow form of storytelling in which the viewer is invited to move from one piece to the next at their own pace, forming personal associations along the way.

In addition to the framed photographic works, I would like to incorporate a number of curtains - like the ones you see in the images - hung on the walls of the exhibition to shape the illusion of a window in the space. Through this gesture, I seek to raise the question of whether what is presented before us is a direct documentation of reality or simply reminding us how everything is purposely staged.

"Any woman with respect for herself and her gender uses the cosmetic gifts, that technology and science have granted her, to emphasize her natural beauty. Any married woman also has a duty towards her husband and children to look her best. Cosmetics is a reality that everyone — whether opponents or supporters — must acknowledge the existence of." (Sven Holm, 1952)