June Bianchi and Carol Cooke
Identity and the body - installation and images by June Bianchi with text by Carol Cooke.
Artist’s Statement
‘My artwork reflects my fascination with human beings’ expression of identity through the construction of our bodies and physical appearance. Through developing, changing and enhancing our bodily shape and size, by physical manipulation and adornment through clothing, jewellery, hair styling and make-up, we signal to the world vital messages about our culture, gender, sexuality, and personal identity.
The construction of our visual image can be a means to communicate both individual identity and group affiliations – social, cultural, political and sexual, and this has been the ongoing theme of my art practice, developed through exhibitions and arts outreach activities over a number of years. My fascination with human beings and their visual quirks and idiosyncrasies is not that of an observer – I love working with people in creating artistic productions, collaborating with a diverse range of participants, in generating ideas and outcomes; sister and writer, Carol Cooke has been a main collaborator on recent projects.
My work on the body and identity explores both the personal and socio-cultural significance of visual appearance, encouraging viewers to question preconceived notions and expectations of visual image through active engagement with my exhibitions and arts outreach programmes. ‘Get it Off your Chest, ‘ multimedia exhibition with accompanying workshops, focused on the role of breasts within Western culture. My touring media arts exhibition ‘More than a body’s work’, with text by Carol Cooke, explores the construction of identity through the body & its adornment, incorporating video installation, canvases and light-boxes and interactive arts activities.
Scarves reveal & conceal, a site-specific installation originally commissioned for the Study Gallery of Modern Art in Poole, presents multiple perspectives on the scarf as a signifier of identity, through a series of interactive portrait panels and a text maze - relevant in the current socio-cultural and political climate, where judgements can be formed on the basis of misinterpreted signified meanings. While images of diversity can be celebrated for their societal enrichment, offering a multiplicity of possibilities and choices, ‘difference’ can be used to advocate positive notions of plurality, but can also generate a state of insecurity, and even fear. Media images can trade on such anxiety and my artwork invites viewers to question received perceptions, pre-conceived ideas and prejudices and challenge them through the playful and experiential opportunities for interaction it offers.’
June Bianchi
For more information on June's work visit http://users.bathspa.ac.uk/biaj1/