PURE-RACE HYBRID (2017)
Artist Statement:
The Pure-Race Hybrid is a commentary on the construction of idealised beauty. The feminine beauty ideal refers to a shifting set of standards that dictate which traits are perceived as most attractive in women—standards that differ across cultures and eras but remain a near-universal pressure. In the West, ideals often include being thin and tall, with long hair, light or tanned skin, large breasts, wide eyes, a small nose, and high cheekbones.
This series interrogates these stereotypes by presenting beauty as a rigid “template” embedded in society. Drawing on the Golden Ratio (1.62)—a mathematical symmetry long associated with physical attractiveness—the portraits utilise geometric distortion to create faces that technically meet these standards, yet appear subtly alien.
In doing so, the work highlights the fragility of beauty as a cultural construct: an ever-changing, fickle ideal that women are continually asked to embody. Across history, such standards have been dictated largely by male perspectives, shaping female identity through external expectations rather than lived realities.
The Pure-Race Hybrid seeks to expose the absurdity of these ideals, questioning the persistence of restrictive templates in contemporary society and challenging viewers to reconsider how beauty is defined, imposed, and internalised.
