LightBox Photographic Gallery

Burdens of a White Dress - March 12 - April 5, 2016

My most recent body of work, “Burdens of a White Dress,” is a set of surreal self portraits that reflect being born in a fringe religious movement. The project’s title refers to the emphasis placed on a woman’s role in my childhood. A woman’s value was intrinsically tied to her purity and virginity; after marriage that value shifted into the realm of motherhood. By using a square format and a stark palette, violently splashed with red, I explore the concepts of shame, of evil, of wantonness, and of the blood of womanhood, birth and death. ~ Jen Kiaba