Perceptual Beauty

September 20, 2021 - June 4, 2022

My senior thesis project explores the relationship between makeup consumption, unrealistic societal beauty standards, and consumerism.
External influence from contemporary advertising and media culture along with different social norms and gendered expectations serve as the primary motivations behind examining these commonplace beauty products in a traditionally unconventional context. In doing so, I attempt to shift “the gaze” away from the female form toward the physical, over-the-counter beauty products themselves. The resulting images playfully use cosmetics as art materials, shifting their purpose away from concealing or accentuating the body and, instead, towards creating colorful yet optical plays within a two-dimensional framework. By focusing on the makeup's various textures, shapes, sizes, and colors, I, simultaneously, explore what makes cosmetics so alluring and, for many other makeup enthusiasts, irresistible.