Hannah Whitaker
Stranger
September 3 – October 5, 2024 | Marinaro Gallery
Marinaro is pleased to present Stranger, Hannah Whitaker’s third solo exhibition with the gallery.
In Stranger, Whitaker continues her exploration of a technologically-mediated life through the fictional character she calls Ursula. Drawing from the archetype of the synthetic woman, found in books, films, and in contemporary tech, Ursula inhabits a heavily styled techno-futuristic world. She is silhouetted, leaving her contours visible, but not her individual features. The result is a playful critique of a visual culture that often fails to depict women and femmes with their full dimensionality.
The show features six photographs, all UV-printed directly onto hand-painted panels. While they may appear to be heavily digitally manipulated, all of Whitaker’s images are achieved in-camera through the use of mirrored props, reflective fabrics, consumer-grade selfie lights, custom-made sets, printed backdrops, a two-way mirror, and rear projection. With these images, Whitaker introduces mirrors that were laser-cut into Ursula’s own likeness, implying her replicability, like our own digital personas, avatars, and zoom replicants do.
