Cortney Andrews

"All dreams return again to the only remaining instinct, to escape from the outline of the self." --Hans Bellmer

The scenarios depicted in my imagery reveal the isolation and violence inherent in intimacy and eroticism as they are performed through the female characters. The staging of theatrical events makes it possible for me to present aspects of the female subject's sexuality that would otherwise remain hidden. This process of externalization allows the viewer to witness the female subject actively engaging with her own internal struggles. By taking on an alter ego, I am able to become a participant in and spectator of this reenactment. Through photography, film and video installation I am interested in promoting a discourse on the dynamics of desire, fetishism, and power from a feminist perspective.

In my work, the representation of the female body becomes the site of both concealment and investigation of itself. The images are fetishistic in their depictions, fastening on parts of the female body--hands, limbs, and hair--as well as the disconcerting objects and gestures that constrain, rupture and conceal the body. In my attempt to create a visual language depicting an internal space, I believe these visual elements and postures gain strength and significance from repetition, and ultimately signify the subjects' erotic power.