Statement
This photographs shows the shadows gathering of people along with other abstract shadows and red lights caused by an open fire.
Artist Bio
Jessica Eva is a photographic artist based in Boorloo (Perth), Whadjuk Noongar Country Western Australia. As a culturally diverse woman, her work draws on contemporary feminist theory. With Honours Degree in Fine Art at Curtin University (2014) she seeks to realise the female gaze. Her camera is a weapon (Sontag, 1977) to reject the patriarchal male gaze. Jessica Eva’s work explores her cultural heritage by subverting the traditional way women of colour are represented in the media, human rights, history and politics. Her work challenges perceptions while inverting and questioning power structures that are perceived by visual means.
Jessica Eva is concerned with gender representation and power in photography. Her photographic work uses the female gaze as a lens through which she views the world. The term ‘female gaze’ refers to the right of women to adopt the active and objectifying gaze that has traditionally and stereotypically been associated with males, undermining the dominant cultural alignment of masculinity with 'activity' and femininity with 'passivity'.
Drawing inspiration from contemporary feminist theory, Jessica Eva seeks to use photography as an empowering tool to represent women as multidimensional humans. She uses photography as a means for challenging perceptions of women; to disrupt the unseen structures in our world and contribute to a broader understanding of society.