Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman’s artworks are these one instances with certain characters for individuals to connect with in a nostalgic way. Using a camera as her choice of tool was the best way to present these subjects. This is because the subjects are mostly snippets of a frame in time so the medium adds to this sense. The way in which Sherman captures these moments and characters does allow for the viewer to think more into this space of time in a broader spectrum than what they have conceived it to be.

Sometimes her works is manipulated, twisted, and stretched thin until her work fits a concept or theory for someone to create. Sherman’s work is most notably debated to be feminist or political like by viewers; but Sherman does not see herself nor her pieces as that. There is no right or wrong to her work. It is there to be out in the open. This is the kind of work I hope to do. I want my art to be on social awareness issues just so they can be presented in a conversation; so that these topics can be expressed openly to the public in order to help resolve the matter or do something about it.

Sherman’s subject matter comes from influences of media related things throughout her time such as things from new television sets to women role models with obscured standard for young girls; these influences are deliberate and raw in her images. For instance, when the NEA pulled its money from obscene art, Sherman responded with fake body parts arranged into ways in which one is forced to look at because it is the main presence of the image. The simplicity of just having a massive penis as her artwork really pushed the censorship line the NEA had. But, this is also an instance in which her work’s intention could be stretched to be applied to sexuality, pornography, and aids when most of the time Sherman is making fun of a serious side that is not to be seen as something truly horrific.