“REEL FANTASY”
BY: LIZ LEE
My practice is a rhizomatic exploration of multiplicities, serving as a deconstructive interrogation of hegemonic constructs surrounding femininity, agency and the performance of gendered identity. I delve into the nomadic spaces of femininity, power, and self-expression, where boundaries are fluid and identities are continually in flux. Drawing from my experiences as a former sex worker, I confront the striated spaces of societal norms and disrupt fixed representations of female sexuality and seek to catalyze transformative dialogue around the intersections of power, embodiment, and agency, inviting viewers to envision new possibilities for feminist praxis.
Through the medium of monumental, armor-plated stripper heels forged from industrial metals, I use aesthetics to confront the "symbolic violence" inherent in the objectification of the femme body within patriarchal systems, as theorized by Pierre Bourdieu. With these towering sculptures, I agitate normative notions of femininity, subverting traditional narratives of objectification and vulnerability by imbuing these symbols of eroticism with elements of protection, violence and resilience. By juxtaposing the delicate, yet potent, iconography of the high heel with the rugged materiality of metal, I seek to "subvert the male gaze" and queer normative narratives of female passivity and vulnerability, echoing the sentiments of Laura Mulvey's work on visual pleasure. Through the strategic deployment of materiality and form, I aim to "reinscribe the body" as a site of agency and resistance, as articulated by Rosi Braidotti’s Posthumanist philosophy.
In parallel, my video installations serve as performative interventions, drawing from Performativity Theory of Judith Butler, to explore the fluidity of gendered subjectivity. By positioning myself as both artist and subject within the frame, I destabilize fixed notions of identity and invite viewers to critically reflect on their own participation within systems of oppression, echoing the sentiments critical pedagogue, Paulo Friere. Viewers are invited to engage with the work through multiple channels. One of these channels is accessed through a peephole, inviting viewers to confront their own voyeurism and complicity in the construction of narratives surrounding sex work and femme empowerment. Through this intimate viewing experience, I aim to unsettle conventional modes of spectatorship and challenge viewers to critically reflection their own positionality within systems of power.
My practice seeks to catalyze transformative dialogue around the intersections of power, embodiment, and agency, inviting viewers to envision new possibilities for feminist praxis. It is an invitation to deterritorialize fixed notions of identity and to explore the endless possibilities of becoming in a