I have been fascinated with Cindy Sherman’s photographs since I saw her work as a teenager in the 1990s, both for her (often dark) humour and theatrics. Cindy takes staged performance photographs of herself under different guises, revealing identity stereotypes that have arisen through media, cinema, advertising and art history. She’ll often deliberately reveal her production efforts, i.e. obvious wigs and bad make up, as a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction.

I wanted to depict Cindy as herself, but seated on a staged set with some of the crucial tools and props she uses. I included a large sword to symbolise her power in revealing and tearing down fabrications, and also the institutionalised violence against women that goes along with some of the stereotypes she depicts. I am also referencing the interesting notion that her work has been interpreted as championing feminist causes even though she herself remains quite impassive.

Title: Cindy

Medium: Gouache