Odalisque Selfie

Odalisque selfie is a life-size steel sculpture powder coated in pink. The female nude reclines on a pool deck chair in a seductive manner dressed only in plastic sunglasses. She holds a cell phone with which she takes her own picture. The high-gloss surface suggests a wetness of pool and sex inviting touch, yet she remains inaccessible; a figure devoid of solid form existing only as suggestive line even though she occupies real space.

Her sexuality is not directed outward toward the viewer in a sensual dialogue but instead she gases at herself with the intent to reproduce her own image. Similarly, the deck chair has its own implied sexuality with phallic arms reminiscent of dual sex toys. They too engage in a self-indulgence, curling in on themselves mirroring the self-congratulatory existence of their own implied sexuality.

The work is a commentary on the sexualized, self-centered indulgence of a global community obsessed with its own image. Celebrities, real and imagined, engineer narratives of their own existence through the porous mediums of social media, dissolving public and private realms of existence. The sculpture, through steel line and cast shadow, outlines a specific narrative; yet, like our touch screen dual existence, remains inaccessible.

Artist creations of Odalisques have a long and varied history. The languid nude of Ingres Great Odalisque or Manet’s self-assured Olympia, engage the viewer with their insouciant gaze. Odalisques by Matisse or Boucher are inviting to the viewer. In the 21st century we gravitate toward stylized reflections of ourselves.