Gillian Wearing
Olia (2003)
Edition of 100
C-type colour photograph. Printed by Goldenshot, London.
61 x 51cm (24 x 20in)
Signed, dated and numbered by the artist on the reverse.
Wearing also works with prosthetic devices to create portraits where idenities slip and submerge. 'Olia' is a beguiling potrait of a fashion model whose personal identity is hidden behind a specially cast mask of the model's face and torso. She looks part human and part mannequin, with the boundary between flesh and artifice difficult to decipher. Though her nakedness is entirely unreal, Wearing's potrait gets beneath the skin, revealing an uncanny, melancholic vulnerability.
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