2024 Finalists

The painting The Fiery Angel critically engages with the use of video games, focusing on how female characters are often overly sexualized within the industry. This oversexualization is not just a reflection but an amplification of broader societal issues concerning how women are depicted across various media. In many video games, female characters are designed primarily to satisfy the male gaze, resulting in exaggerated features and roles that serve male fantasies rather than providing well-rounded, authentic portrayals. These characters often exist merely to enhance the male experience, whether through their appearance or their narrative roles, rather than standing as independent, multidimensional figures.

The portrayal of women in my paintings, where they often appear ghostly or ethereal, might be seen as a commentary on the overlooked or diminished agency of women in both traditional and contemporary media. This approach invites viewers to think more deeply about the broader social implications of these portrayals and to consider how we might achieve more balanced and nuanced representations in cultural production. Unlike typical portrayals, I imbue these female figures with a sense of spiritual and protected energy, presenting them not as mere echoes of outdated stereotypes but as powerful, transcendent beings.

Painting emerges from an inner conflict, whether emotional, spiritual, or idea-based. This inner turmoil has followed me since childhood, where I would alternate between walks in nature with my dad and immersing myself in the cyber zone, next to the monitor of my personal computer. No doubt, this relationship with digital technologies has formed a peculiar ambivalence between the imagined and the real, influencing my approach to daily life and painting.

When thinking about painting in relation to technology, this contradiction between opposing concepts prompts me to set painterly subjectivity and intimacy against digital anonymity, expecting that these two opposing factors will form a critically organic body of work. A painterly gesture placed next to an object printed by a machine would emphasize this hybrid state in which we all live today.

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