Digital print, 2012.
PEAU D'ÂNE
"A widower king had a beautiful daughter and a rich kingdom, including a marvelous donkey whose droppings were gold... "
- Charles Perrault
Donkey Skin is Cinderella’s twin tale, with the exception being that its heroine, instead of being persecuted by an evil stepmother, is persecuted by the incestuous desires of her father, who sees in her the long lost perfection of his deceased wife. To avoid an unwanted marriage with her own father, the princess demands as a dowry three impossible presents: robes with the attributes of the Sun, the Moon and the Time.
The Donkey Skin project is a personal version of the Sun’s gown. The “impossible” finery presents itself as a high power L.E.D. dress shining with an intensity both attractive and hurtful to the eye. Within a few seconds of contemplation, the visual memory of the dress is printed in the viewer’s eye. The dress is not only offensive to its viewer’s eye, but is also a beautiful yet restraining prison for the person wearing it. It is the prison that binds the princess to her father.