Flawless

Flawless compares forms and features of the human body to details found in nature with similar form and composition, and serves as a comment on modern interpretations of beauty. It is the totality of our features, including wrinkles, veins, scars, and crooked teeth, that render us unique and beautiful people. When these human features are compared to sporadic fungus on a tree or a ripple in the water, we can recognize similar marks of individuality in forms found in nature to provide a sense of the repetition and connection among all living things.

This theory is similar to the Japanese idea of “wabi-sabi.” Derived from a Buddhist teaching, wabi-sabi embraces beauty as something that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” or “flawed.” Other cultures and religions also conceive of imperfect beauty. Because of the belief that “only God is perfect,” Quakers practice a “wabi-sabi” like art form in which they deliberately incorporate flaws into furniture. Other cultures create imperfections such as the placement of Kohl on the faces of children in India, a “humility square” is positioned incorrectly on an Amish quilt, and medieval scribes include a purposeful error in the illuminated manuscripts.

In today’s society, we often forget to appreciate who we are due to media exploitation and unreachable standards of what we are told we should look like. Flawless attempts to illuminate the idea of flawed beauty, and establishes a parallel between the human body and other forms in nature. The world is filled with natural repeating forms that are all connected. By rejecting idealism, and focusing on unique examples of reality, this photographic interpretation can be compared to the work of Alfred Stieglitz known as “Equivalents.” By associating photos of clouds with human emotion and personality, he provided a metaphorical connection between clouds and the feelings they evoke. Similar to Stieglitz’s intentions, Flawless uses a similar metaphor to evoke a renewed sense of beauty through these detailed comparisons.