honorable mention
Gracie Hagen united states
title
Altered Sameness
Altered Sameness uses a single self-portrait taken and reprinted. Each image is manipulated through a different method, such as needle and thread, vintage ads and fire. The vastly different media are not unlike the differing states we move through as humans: at times harmonious, other times dissonant.
As the subject, my pose emulates the aesthetic of a paper doll cutout; a blank canvas physically and emotionally. Through it, I both invite the viewer to assign their own meaning, and by being in front of the lens, I can explore myself from a different vantage, as a way to process my own life.
(I submitted 1 full image, 3 detail shots & the full series in one image for a bigger scope of the project. I can supply any/all of the images if needed)
It is the honesty that draws her to photography & videography. The interesting complexity in people is what compels her to use the human form as the predominant subject. In her work she tries to capture questions about who we are & how we see ourselves. Her images serve to expose the open, vulnerable, & sometimes uncomfortable realities of our hidden nature. This process, revealing elements of our shared humanity, is fascinating; it allows her to simultaneously explore & illustrate feelings through her art while provoking social discourse.
She wants her work to show the core commonalities beneath our vast diversity. As such, her projects often features series where the angles, poses, & backdrops are unifying while the unique models & faces are as varied as humanity itself. We are all the same. We are all different. Even though multiple series contain unrelated themes, they are all illustrating unique parts of the same body.
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entry description
As both a maker and viewer of art, I believe it functions as a way we can process life. Over time, the same piece observed can come to mean different things, due in part to the personal and emotional context in which the viewer experiences it.Altered Sameness uses a single self-portrait taken and reprinted. Each image is manipulated through a different method, such as needle and thread, vintage ads and fire. The vastly different media are not unlike the differing states we move through as humans: at times harmonious, other times dissonant.
As the subject, my pose emulates the aesthetic of a paper doll cutout; a blank canvas physically and emotionally. Through it, I both invite the viewer to assign their own meaning, and by being in front of the lens, I can explore myself from a different vantage, as a way to process my own life.
(I submitted 1 full image, 3 detail shots & the full series in one image for a bigger scope of the project. I can supply any/all of the images if needed)
about the photographer
Gracie Hagen is an artist that currently resides in Chicago & is completely self taught. As a result, she's developed a unique aesthetic guided only by her desire to create the type of images that appeal to her. Her work has been featured on The Huffington Post, Beautiful Decay, The Daily Mail, & more.It is the honesty that draws her to photography & videography. The interesting complexity in people is what compels her to use the human form as the predominant subject. In her work she tries to capture questions about who we are & how we see ourselves. Her images serve to expose the open, vulnerable, & sometimes uncomfortable realities of our hidden nature. This process, revealing elements of our shared humanity, is fascinating; it allows her to simultaneously explore & illustrate feelings through her art while provoking social discourse.
She wants her work to show the core commonalities beneath our vast diversity. As such, her projects often features series where the angles, poses, & backdrops are unifying while the unique models & faces are as varied as humanity itself. We are all the same. We are all different. Even though multiple series contain unrelated themes, they are all illustrating unique parts of the same body.
back to gallery
