Examination of the image becomes vital in a period of history marked by the smartphone and its accessibility to image and video creation. Lala Drona inspires others to question the origins of our daily images through her research into topics concerning le regard (the gaze).
During her appearance at the Bienvenu Art Fair at the Cité des Arts in Paris, journalist and video editor Mathieu Mieleszko followed Lala Drona to document the release of her painting “Female Frame.” In this video, Mieleszko delves into the artist’s intention behind the painting, and provides a link between her artistic universe and its real-world applications. His cinematographic style in this video is influenced by concepts behind the piece, mimicking le regard which follows behind the artist during the exhibition. The style critiques the traditional objectification of women depicted through the male gaze, as women in the video are not simply objects to be seen, but instead look back (appearances by: video artist Jamika Ajalon, and stained glass artist Alison Koehler).
Lala states that her present work on the female gaze examines “issues in the lack of diversity in the transmission of images and stories throughout history. Our images predominantly come from creators of the same profile (male, white, heterosexual). It’s not to say that these stories are not important, it’s to say that it’s time to share the stage. We want different stories, a broader understanding of the diverse human condition. And it’s time to bring commonly silenced voices to the forefront.”
Her painting “Female Frame” not only inspires others to question the profile of the person behind our images, but also the corporate and political entities. “We are bombarded with too many images today, in the form of Instagram, and other social networks. Advertisers and political campaigns are able to post images at the same level of importance as the images from our friends and community. The infinite scroll feature facilitates the mindless consumption of these images, and we are only beginning to see the negative effects of this.”
Lala Drona intends to create three paintings under the concept of “the female frame.”
Video editing by Mathieu Mieleszko:
https://vimeo.com/user20455396
Music in video by Sim Hutchins:
https://soundcloud.com/simhutchins
https://simhutchins.bandcamp.com/
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