Artist Diary – Vakseen

 My creations pulsate with feminine energy. Women are God’s greatest work of art and I believe life as we know it, evolves around them. Although I couldn’t fathom being a woman in this patriarchal world we live in, I open my creative process to the allure inherent to women. I aim for my art to celebrate the acute imperfections and endless perfections that exist within every woman. Today’s media rarely allows for flaws. There is an overload of perfect images that are packaged as if they represent a reflection every woman can see herself in. And that’s not realistic, because there is no balance. Young women who are spoon fed hatred of their natural selves are likely to become carbon copies of magazine covers, and find it difficult to love themselves. And that is something that unfortunately, I can relate to all too well.

As quickly as the aperture of a camera opens and shuts to capture light, the unique radiance of the female image is photoshopped away. Models cut away and cover the parts that give them distinction. It’s been happening for so long that perfection is the new role model. I’m not against new and unfolding trends in fashion or personal enhancements. I simply do not appreciate beauty being defined for me, or anyone else. One of the wonderful things about the human experience is that we are free to explore, discover and evolve our perception of the multifaceted aesthetic this world has to offer.

If I have to label it, my art falls under the surrealism category. I’ve created a signature style that fuses elements of photorealism, cubism and fashion design. Each painting is a unique portrait of an insecure soul with an incredible story to share. This clearly defines the base of my work; however the method is more complex. I attack my creative process the same way a cosmetic surgeon would. I use high end fashion and beauty magazines to clip and surgically collage the perfect features together, bringing my ideas to life. From this point I recreate everything by drawing, then painting these beautifully insecure souls onto the canvas. Initially, I would create using both acrylic and oil or water color paint. Now, I solely work with acrylics. My pieces come to fruition quickly, so I love the flexibility, depth and complex layers acrylic paint allows for. Vibrant color is my preference so my pieces tend to be loud, sensitive and vivacious. Colors demand attention. They play with our senses and evoke emotion responses within the human mind. I use that to my advantage. The colors are essential to the complete story of each creation.

In essence, my art is a visual dialogue about society’s idolization of beauty and the surreal, superficial times we live in. I only hope to be fortunate enough to produce art that consistently ignites discussion, captivates the senses and most importantly, questions the importance we place on outer appearances.