Gerwyn Davies new photographic series ‘Paradise’ depicts tropes of glamour and class in an otherworldly fashion. The series of self-portraits explores the use of dress in self-representation with the fabrication of elaborate bricolage constructions that repurpose everyday materials in imaginative ways.
These constructions range in their complexity and detail and result in the shrouding of the wearer and a veiling of standard markers of identity and the modification of the typical human form. In doing so, these costumed portraits explore the playful, experimental and often subversive potential for creating and recreating the self through dress. Davies is interested in the multiplicity of identity and the selective process of its construction and presentation to those around us. The work acts as a platform for the artist to surrender to a more expressive physical self.
‘Paradise’ sits within a wider photographic practice that incorporates costume design, soft sculpture, set design and self-portraiture.
