Artist Profile: Annique Delphine. Produced by OTGF Studio. Images courtesy of the Artist.
“Objectify Me is fueled by the frustration I often feel from the disproportionate value placed on being aesthetically pleasing above all other attributes. My self-portraits with the boobhead and boobmask were partially born out of the grief I felt about my breasts having changed after I had my child and how much less desirable I now felt. I then grew angry with myself for reducing my worth to the shape of my breasts, and making myself into an object. We are conditioned from an early age that what’s most important about us is the way we look and the way our body feels in someone else’s hands.
What also contributed was a general fatigue from the hypocrisy of the simultaneous sexualization and censorship of female body parts. I’m trying to take a direct approach, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious to break down my own internalized sexism and also to break down boundaries on how female artists are allowed to express themselves. The female body is still censored so much when it doesn’t directly serve the male gaze. A giant boob on my head is funny but it also expresses how empty objectification can make me feel.”
Annique Delphine, Self-Portrait #1 from the series "Objectify Me," C-Print, 2015
Annique Delphine, Self-Portrait in Bed from the series "Objectify Me," C-Print, 2015
Annique Delphine, Self-Portrait #2 from the series "Objectify Me," C-Print, 2015
Annique Delphine, Flying Object (Beverly Hills) from the series "Objectify Me," C-Print, 2015
Annique Delphine, Summertime Sadness from the series "Objectify Me," C-Print, 2015
Work by Annique Delphine was featured in our group exhibition Bang Bang.