In Fall of 2015 I captured film images of women who felt like their reflection wasn’t up to their expectation. I printed these images digitally after scanning them into the computer, on transfer paper. These images were transferred onto 16×20 custom mirrors. Typically a transfer takes about 10 minutes to dry, then is washed, and an hour later final washed. However, because of the delicate medium, these each took about a week to produce.

My goal with these images were to produce the most perfect transfer, however, after working with this medium for awhile, I had to lose sight of perfection, I had to let it go. I felt this was extremely important in my process and in my learning. I could not obtain perfection in the process, just as we (humans) can not obtain the idealized perfection that we hold ourselves accountable to.

Each of these women wrote me a very personal letter, to which their images have been titled by. The public has never seen these letters; nor will they, but their written letters became apart of my process to create the work as well as label the work.

When viewing these images, the viewers must face themselves and the people in the mirrors. They only can obtain a distorted view of themselves due to the image blocking their reflection, but also obtain a distorted view of the women themselves due to the scratched ink as well as their own reflection getting into the way. This symbolizes the distortion that a lot of people face in their daily lives, either because of unattainable standards, or because of Body Dysmorphia.

This body of work had its own solo show, 2016 March, downtown Grand Rapids, MI at the Bethlehem Church off of Commerce street. 15 Finalized Pieces.