Manipulation: drawing by cutting.
Media: black PVC tape, scissors, zip, diamante chains.

This title ‘Manipulation’ aims to act as a counterbalance to the initial seductive allure of the image to which it relates. It precludes a straight forward reading, as the work plays with all the different forms of manipulation. Manipulation returns to ideas previously explored in the installation Beauty Bound (2007) and the way in which mass media imagery, especially that used in advertising, continues to perpetuate ‘the myth of beauty’ – perhaps more than ever before. Such images influence the real lives of women and men, and their relationships. This work therefore aims to simultaneously exploit and expose the prevalent image of women as sex objects, deconstructing our current cultural icons such as Victoria’s Secret Angels. As in my Beauty Bound (2007) installation, I again ‘construct’ the image using PVC tape, distancing it from the original photographic source material, creating a space for critical scrutiny and reflection. The glossy black PVC tape – again plays up connotations of sexual fetish and bondage – as well as referencing the smooth, glossy surface and plasticity of our consumer culture. The method of ‘construction’ again alludes to the original image’s constructed artifice, but in this work I have focused on the creative potential of ‘drawing by cutting’ to a much greater extent; further exploiting the possibilities of the material and experimenting more with the formal qualities of ‘line’. Hence, this piece is much more intricate, precise and painstaking in its construction. I have also focused more on my role as artist, with the creative power to manipulate. The additional appendage of a pair of scissors, bound by the tape and suspended in a frame, invites the viewer to reflect further on the constructed and binding nature of the image – another strategy of ‘self-conscious’ resistance - and my final act of manipulation.