Feminine Millennial Identity: Lala and Britney

Shaved, 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 50cm x 61cm

Lala Drona taps into the feminine millennial psyche with your newest painting “Shave.”  (displayed above) 

“Encounter” void painting by Lala Drona

Following her previous series where she depicted the journey into “the void” she begins to discover the influences that have played a part in the construction of feminine millennial identity.  With its black background, one could presume that we have crossed over, and entered the void referenced in the former series.  From inside the void, the first image that emerges is one of a face split in half:  One side is Lala Drona, sporting her iconic sunglasses, and the other side is that of Britney Spears.  The image of Lala was taken from her short video “Jailbird for muse abuse,” where the artist’s head is shaved before she enters Paris Art Prison after being convicted of Muse Abuse.  Juxtaposed is the infamous image of Britney Spears’s, taken by the paparazzi when she escaped from her Pop princess keepers, and shaved her own head in 2007.

In an interview with Jay Lewis in Artleads Magazine, Lala Drona explains that she chose to paint a half-Lala, half-Britney painting in so that the images could be revealed with her “Every Woman” mirror box contraption.  Once the painting is put on the mirror box, you can see each side of the face reflected, which creates the illusion of complete and separate people (complete Britney, complete Lala). “I chose Britney for this piece after considering the references I had of women shaving their head before I had shaved my head for the first time.  I was surprised that although the media presented Britney as hysterical, I remembered this moment as her expressing agency over her own body.  I saw strength in the wild look in her eyes.  I wanted to be beautiful, strong, free, and wild like that too.  Britney inadvertently gave many millennial girls a reference for releasing the wild woman within.”

Reference for painting “Shaved”

Internet forums have been buzzing about a leaked handwritten statement by Lala Drona recounting the inspiration behind the piece.  The text, thought to be a draft of the art statement that accompanies the piece, says that this painting was an introspective look at sensationalized images of women during her formative years:

“In the late 90’s and 2000’s, the media presented women as objects to be consumed by the male gaze.  We learned that acting unintelligent was attractive, like Paris Hilton in The Simple Life.  We were bombarded with images from “Girls Gone Wild” and “Mardi Gras,” and it was custom for neighbourhood boys and male classmates to ask us to flash them as if we were the subjects in these programs.  Mtv’s Spring Break, and music videos showed us how we should act if we wanted to be seen and validated by mainstream culture.  The paparazzi preyed on young celebrity girls exiting their cars, in order to snap an upskirt photo and plaster images of their vaginas in gossip magazines.  This is what I saw on a daily basis while waiting in line at the grocery store.  Women were meant to freely offer their body to any man that wanted it, and men were meant to coerce women into giving their bodies by any means… 

(continued…)Of course, this misogynist media circus was a natural evolution from mainstream media of the late 80’s and early 90’s, but things have become even worse today for young women and girls with social media pressures and mobile photo editing apps.  Women should feel free to express their sexual power, but not feel as if it is the only power they have at their disposal.  Women are made to feel that their work is never enough, that the work does not stand without an attractive and unthreatening face/body to transport it.  Anyone who lives at the mercy of the male gaze is made to feel as if they should hide their image if it is not perfect by societal standards of beauty.  This pressure to either “exploit yourself or hide yourself” traps us within the body, with no chance to transcend it, meaning no chance for growth or evolution.  My intuition tells me that feminine power lies somewhere outside of our bodies, but it is with our bodies that we can connect to it.  It’s like another channel we can all tune in to.  If we are always made to feel that we are nothing more than our bodies, then we will never transcend those bodies and never tap into that feminine power.  We will remain docile, and easily managed.  We must find the way to break away from the body as prison; we must stop defining ourselves by the body. We must view it as a tool/vessel that enables us to connect and ascend to our most powerful selves.”

Some critics are saying the Lala Drona’s piece is a cheap attempt to jump onto the #freebritney trends regarding Britney Spear’s recent conservatorship battle.  Others remain satisfied with the project, and find its feminine millennial identity angle refreshing.  Will Lala Drona continue to explore millennial identity through painting, or will her journey into the void uncover something else?  We’ll keep you updated with Lala Drona’s top stories here on Based on a Fact.

Written by Warren Deniels, Independent Journalist  

Halloween Special: Lala’s Breast Implant Haunted. Needs Removal.

Hauntings take place in houses…Sometimes objects can even house dark spirits or entities.  On Friday the 23rd of October, Lala Drona announced that she would be having surgery to remove her left breast implant and undergo a mastectomy.  To the press, Lala Drona released a statement saying:

“It has been 16 years since my operation to correct my left-breast agenesis.  When I was 15 years old, the doctors thought it was best to augment the left breast in order to match the right breast which developed.  I have no regrets.  However, the breast implant is too old, and I am left with a choice:  to undergo the same operation…or to remove the breast implant and reduce the right breast to match it.  I choose the ladder.”

Lala Drona continued on to explain why.  She talked about her research into the health effects of silicone in the body, and the inevitability to be forced to have another surgery in order to replace the implants once again.  She mentioned the maintenance of having to see doctors every year to survey the implants in case of a rupture.

“I don’t want a life framed by my breasts.  I want to be free, and I’m willing to give up the right one if it means I can move on, and live a healthier life.”

Although the speech was moving, journalists of the L.D. Times decided to dig further.  They found that Lala Drona was using this story to cover up something much more sinister.

Strange and violent events began to take place around Paris.  A woman on a subway train, stopped at station Pont Marie, scratched her face until the bone was exposed.  She kept saying, “I don’t want to be pretty anymore.”  

Then, near the Cite des Arts, where Lala Drona had her last exhibition, a man was found smashing the bottom part of his legs with a large rock of concrete.  His legs were already quite thin, so it didn’t take much to remove all the flesh.  Rumors said that he kept repeating: “I can’t get my calf muscles to grow.”

The final event had taken place in a bus.  A woman broke a window abruptly, and used a glass shard to cut the fat off of her stomach, repeating: “They say, take it off!”  She was wrestled to the ground, and luckily, she survived.

Investigative journalists found that all of these events had one thing in common.  Lala was there.  She had been walking near the Cite des Arts, when the man began smashing his legs with a rock of concrete.  Below Lala walking on the street, the subway train containing the woman who scratched her face to the bone had stopped at station Pont Marie.  The bus with the woman who tried to cut off the fat from her belly had also stopped nearby.  

Lala Drona

When confronted by journalists regarding the bizarre coincidences, she allowed her partner Drone No.1 to come clean for her.  He told the crowd that recently they had found that Lala Drona’s breast implant was haunted, and that although they would not be able to disclose the means in which they would have to neutralize the  threat, they would be taking care of it, and that everything would be handled by November 1st.

The process or procedure the Drones and Lala would take to relieve her body of the haunting… that, we do not know.  However, we do know that her medical operation is not scheduled until February 2021.  This means that the Lala will have to find a way to either live with the dangerous spirits inside the implant, or find a way to calm them.  One way or another, she will have to house them, in her chest, through the winter.

To see more about Lala Drona’s breast experience and art, watch the video below, or check out her website http://www.laladrona.com

Social Media using us: “The Like Me”

The newest addition to artist Lala Drona’s video series “La Minute Ladrona (The Stolen Minute)” has just been released:  Title:  “The Like Me” (video below.)

As if social media were a cosmic invader on the human species, the video begins with a view of Earth from outer space, and lands in Lala Drona’s home city, Paris, France. The viewer finds the artist underground, inside an air shaft.  Alone, and illuminated only by the light of her phone, she begins to voice opinions and expressions that have become all too familiar to anyone growing up post-millennial.    

The performance art video “The Like Me” delves into the isolating effects of social media through its guise of connection.  This video experience, examines the normalised anxiety we feel on a daily basis.

The art performance video series “La Minute Ladrona” exists within the context of a confined space.  The black backdrop and  unknown location capture the viewer for a moment of intimacy through the screen.  However, “The Like Me” stands to be the first time Lala Drona has located herself in the context of our outside world— now injecting elements of story into this video series.

“The Like Me” being the 7^th, and most recent instalment, has critics and academics alike seeing the beginnings of an evolution regarding the art video series.  As one critic in the L.D. Confidential stated: “The Like Me is the first time that Lala Drona has played with the idea of space and context.  She has become a being which exists in our shared world, albeit still hidden in the dark corners of it.  She is publicly appropriating the role of “observer.”  The detailed work regarding lighting, place and concept, shows a confidence and artistic maturity.  This new instalment promises more exciting things to come regarding Lala Drona’s work.”

This video has Art fans asking if this video is a sign of coming changes in Lala Drona’s social media presence. Perhaps this video is what remains from the journey she’s made from tool to master. One thing is certain: the creation of this piece shows us that no one is immune to the effects of social media. Even when an artist attempts to evade it, its omnipotence proves itself by resurfacing in her work.

Chalie Malonie, Digital ArtWorld Newsletter

Second Painting in Triptych Released

Lala Drona continues her project on “The Female Frame” finishing the second painting in the triptych.

The project “Female Frame” is a response to the question “What would the world look like through female eyes?” She states: “While growing up, a lot of emphasis is placed on how girls look and present themselves to the world. Images of “the trophy wife,” an object used only to increase the status of the man next to her. The “instagram look,” where women are augmenting their bodies, both surgically and digitally, in exchange for audience approval in the form of likes and comments…”

Female Frame: The Stage, 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 20cm x 20cm

“…When it comes to scrutiny, women’s bodies have always been open game. Open game to be commented on by passerbys on the street, to be ridiculed for how they dress or present themselves. This is why the stage is an appropriate setting for the next room represented in this project. Women are born into the role of entertainer to the masses; when they leave the home (private space) and go into public spaces, they are put on stage. And it’s once the entertainer is on stage that the public feels that they are permitted to comment on her, right? Because, after all, they wouldn’t go up there, on stage (into the public world) in front of everyone, if they didn’t want the attention, right?” This piece examines the societal role of “visual entertainment” placed on women when they occupy public spaces.

If you’d like to see more about the project “Female Frame” click here.

Artist Family Values: Lala begins research

Lala Drona spotted at exhibition

In an interview with Art & Stylin’ Magazine, Lala Drona said that she has been “taking a break from output to reassess.”  The artist stated that she continues to work on creative projects, but in order to dive deeper into other projects, social media and blog posts had to be put on the back-burner:

“I’ve reduced my output online because of my commitment to essential projects offline. I came to the realization that in my journey as an artist, my values seem to be holding me back, creatively and otherwise. The troubling thing is, these values I speak of, arise, and stop me from moving forward; they are walls that do not explain themselves. I’ve realized that for better or worse, these values have been transmitted to me, through exterior sources. I’ve never taken a moment to work through the voices policing me to be a “good” person, or “good” artist. Because I like the person I have become, and I like the life I lead today, I have never thoroughly investigated the origins of these “values.” Now that I am an adult, and no longer a young person clutching on to stable things in an unstable reality, it’s time to unpack them. I’ve decided to begin writing about my values as an artist, to find out what it means to be an artist today in this new world.”

Thibaut Narme, Economics Lecturer and friend of Lala Drona

Lala Drona was spotted at Au Chat Noir interviewing Thibaut Narme, a lecturer at a business school in Paris.  Sources say that Lala Drona was researching for a section of the essay that examines free market capitalism and the role of the artist within it.  She mentioned other topics in the essay would include Death to the bohemian artist and The young and the mature artist.

“My European Art Tour was enlightening.  I feel like I’m finally seeing everything from outside myself—starting to see the strings of how everything works—I’ve been seemingly invited to the game my whole life, but it’s only now that I finally understand the rules. I’ve definitely had to take an unconventional path to get them.  Now, I’m finally getting ready to play.”

For some experts, these statements raise red flags.  As Lala Drona has not yet left the doghouse regarding her reputation involving allegations of muse abuse.  However, after her stint in Paris Art Prison, she seems to have turned over a new leaf, committing herself to use everything she’s learned through her experiences (and muse experiments!) to help her fellow artists.

Lala Drona is also preparing for participation in the group exhibition “Turtle Bienvenu” at the Cité des Arts in Paris—the opening on October 12^th from 6pm-11pm.  Lala Drona plans to continue her exploration of the female gaze, in the form of painting on canvas and in a video performance.  Don’t miss her first show since returning to Paris.

The Art Gorgeous’ artists to know: “Three fresh takes on the female gaze”

What are the male and female gaze, and why are they so important to art history? On Tuesday August 13th, The Art Gorgeous published an article exploring just that. The article titled “Three fresh takes on the female gaze” by Katya Lopatko featured three artists which “are embracing and extending the female gaze, shaping the future of the art world with each stroke”(Lopatko).

Lala Drona, along with artists Helen Beard, and Samantha Louise Emery were chosen as “artists to you should know” when communicating the female gaze through paint on canvas. Read the article here: https://theartgorgeous.com/three-fresh-takes-female-gaze/

Lala: The European Art Tour

Since her return to Paris last May, Lala Drona doesn’t seem to be able to keep her feet on the ground!  From France, to Spain and now to Portugal, her European tour is causing a media art frenzy!

In June 2018, Lala began her European tour at an art residency in Seville, Spain.  She spoke with the local media before her exhibition there “The Power of the Click” to tell them that she had been staying at the residency with seven other women artists from around the world.  “I had already lived with seven women once in a favela in Brazil in 2010, so I had my reservations about living with so many women at once, however, I was surrounded by so many talented, warm-hearted and hard-working artists.  I felt fortunate to be part of such an incredible team.”

“The Power of the Click” triptych by Lala Drona

She went on to explain that the ecosystem of feminine energy and experience intensified her feminist beliefs and contributed to the creation of her triptych “The Power of the Click”—a piece which examines how our digital actions on women’s bodies can have consequences in the real world.  She continues to have strong links with some of the artists, and says that these artists support and inspire each other everyday through voice message notes.

Lala returned to Paris in August, where she recharged and replenished her inspiration receptors.  It was during this time that she locked herself in to her workshop and broadened the scope through which she viewed her current area of artistic research.

Title: Speak or Listen, Artist: Lala Drona, Acrylic on canvas 50cm x 60cm Paris France, 2018

She had been sensing the world changing due to the growth of social media, a positive change where everyone started to have an opinion and exercised their voice.  And at the same time, a rise in the tendency to not listen to people when recounting their experiences.  “It’s important to remember that every conversation is not an attack or a debate, but that sometimes we are just sharing stories.

Title: Zoom in 1, Artist: Lala Drona, Acrylic on canvas 50cm x 60cm Paris France, 2018

We don’t always have to prepare a rebuttal.  I notice a lack of picking up on those conversational nuances, a lack of knowing when to listen, and when to speak.  That’s why I created this painting [Speak or Listen].”
Through September and October, Lala stayed in Paris to show her work in an exhibition in the Marais, and work in another art residency.  Here, she decided to create 3 different paintings on one canvas (each new painting covering the last).  This concept aimed to push the artist to experiment and develop her style without the pressure of “the end result” looming over.  “I took aspects from the first and second paintings that I liked, and integrated them into the third painting.

Title: Presenteeism, Artist: Lala Drona, Acrylic on canvas 100cm x 100cm Paris France, 2018

This method also gave me the freedom to try out new concepts in the first two draft paintings to know if I liked them enough to try them again in future paintings.”  She finished with the piece “Presenteeism,” a painting which examines how social media contributes to the overwhelming pressure to be seen/present at all times.  Lala plans to continue developing the geometric style found in this painting and further research the topic of how our digital lives on social media and the internet affect us IRL.  

 

During the months of November and December, Lala will participate in another artist in residency program in Alentejo, Portugal.  Here, she will continue research on her topic and create 2-3 painting to be shown in an exhibition in Portugal in December.  “I’m going into my project in Portugal with an open mind.  I’m waiting to be inspired by the moment.  I will definitely continue researching the same topic, but I have no images in mind yet.”

As far as the rest of the year goes, Lala has plenty of projects lined up.  We’ve heard rumours of Norway and New York, and have confirmed that she’ll have an exhibition in Lithuania this summer, and another in Finland in the fall. Get ready to see a lot of Lala Drona in 2019.

Jeff Southers, Columbus Ohio Journal of the Creative Arts

Go Hashtag Yourself Interview, 2018

Lala Drona sits down with L.D. Times Magazine once again for an exclusive  interview.  This time she discusses the ways in which social media and the Internet influence and affect her work as an artist.  Read the full article here.

 

 

Goodbye beauty and into the Darkness

Artist:  “How would you describe this painting?”

Viewer: “I like it, but it’s so dark.  Sort of bumming me out.”

Artist:  “Really? You think it’s dark?

“Dr. Royal” 2013, by Lala Drona

 

I have dedicated my entire life to creating art.  Spanning from paintings, to video, to performance art, to short fiction.  I believe that creating from the most personal, connects most universally.  However, words in the form of viewer-comments hover over my creations, descriptors like “suffering,” “painful,” and “dark.”

The funny thing is, I’ve always been embarrassed of my dark side showing, although it is the natural way I create.  I feel like I seem weak, too self-pitying or self-indulgent; I’m ruining your good time.  During the creative process, my mind and hand have made a pact to tone down the darkness, to try and make it more digestible through bright colors, or balanced/symmetrical design which is pleasing to the eye.

 

I look at my pieces now with suspicion.  My themes are dark, and most embody suffering, because that has been my reality.  The decision to aesthetically express darkness and suffering in a way that is pleasing to the eye

“Beautiful on the Inside” 2017, by Lala Drona

plays the role of propaganda and glamourizes a perpetual cycle of suffering.  It packages hard truths in a cruelty-free, sterile and overly-inspected product—something impersonal and all too easy for the mind to take in and forget, trauma-free.

The truth is, as a woman with my specific experience, I believe that I’ve expressed my darkness through the scope of beauty because I felt that this was the only way my experience had value.  I am beautiful, therefore I am.  Gaining and being rejected access to resources has been heavily based on my outward appearance and presentation ([un]attractive; woman), and has infiltrated the most sacred parts of my being, and now I’ve been creating from it.  The societal pressures to be “polite,” “make sure everyone’s having a good time,” and “keep it light” have only served to silence my voice and my art has suffered because of it.  I am aesthetically pleasing to them.  I am beautiful, therefore I am theirs.

“Moyen No. 1” 2015 by Lala Drona

                  Confronting the darkness within, a darkness I believe we all have access to, and then unabashedly expressing it, is one of my greatest fears.  However, I have always believed that if something scares you, it is a sign that you are going in the right direction, so you must do it.  The darkness in my work seems to always peek through, and now its time to confront it and accept it fully.  To approach its truth.

 

“Doom and Destiny” 2017, by Lala Drona

I fear that I’ll lose a handle on reality when diving into the darkness and chaos.  I fear what I will discover, what doors I may open or whether I’ll be able to return from the madness.  However, I must reconcile this within myself, and so here today, I pledge to create something brazenly dark.  No protection, and no filters that make the message more digestible.

I will release myself from the external motivators, from the viewer-comments and the male-gaze.  I will neither be nice nor polite, and I definitely will not “keep it light.”  I will create something “ugly,” and I will make the viewer

“The First Follower” 2018, by Lala Drona

accompany me into the darkness.  Because We still exist without the mask of their “beauty.”  I will create something that aesthetically matches and communicates its message.  I will communicate truth.

Yes, I am beautiful, but I am not theirs.

 

See Lala Drona at her next exhibition in Paris at Galerie Art’et Miss in Paris, France– Sept. 8th 6pm-8pm.

Radio Interview with a Visual Artist

Lala Drona in her first ever public radio appearance on Beijing International Radio.  Listen to her interview on Touch Beijing 93.2FM, where she explains what it means to be a visual artist today, and how Beijing has inspired her art.  Stay tuned until the end where she reveals her plot for the future.