Gwyneth Giller

  • Gwyneth Giller

  • Corporeal Sometimes

  • A life-size installation that explores the concept of disembodiment through the consumerism trends of the early 2000s.

  • This installation explores the concept of displacement from oneself through consumerism. It’s largely influenced by Stephen Fox’s, The Mirror Makers, which theorizes that in order to sell something to someone you must first distort their reality. The installation runs parallel to Mary Ann Caws, Female Embodiment in Surrealist Art, and her analysis of the ways women are informed of their anatomy through displacement and misrepresentation.The installation follows the general aesthetics of the early 2000’s and is interested in its diet culture, media focuses and beauty trends. I’m interested in this specific time both because of the personal impact it had on me and the strangeness of it. A time when we were gaining consciousness of the symptoms of toxic engulfment in beauty standards and yet, still continued to perpetuate and romanticize them. 

    I’ve curated a vintage children’s vanity from the 2000s, one I actually had growing up, to serve as a stationary relic. It’s the only item I didn’t create and represents temporality. I’ve accompanied it with a handmade soft sculpture of a human and ceramic sculptures that represent the domestic toys marketed towards young girls and their romanization of “woman-hood”. 

    These realistic yet funhouse-esque objects both demand to be interacted with and simultaneously serve as a sensory barrier to oneself. For example, each mirror used in this installation is purposefully distorted to prevent any accurate reflection of personhood. This kind of detachment from oneself can best be understood through the process of making these clay objects. When I’m sculpting, the clay begins to harden over my fingertips, serving as a physical sensory barrier to myself and what I’m sculpting. I can still see my hands doing it but I can no longer feel it. 

    1. Installation, Multimedia, Sculpture, World Building 
    2. Links: 

    Website: https://www.gwynethgiller.com