Cindy Sherman: Mastering the Art of Identity Through the Lens

Cindy Sherman was the youngest of 5 children and grew up to love the arts. This love grew when she went to Buffalo State College in the visual arts department where she explored painting. She hated the limits that painting had and wanted to branch out into photography, she saw it as a new realm to explore expression. Sherman's most notable work, her Untitled Film series, was helped along by a fellow artist named Robert Lango, helping her along the path of recording her dolling-up process.

Photography is Sherman’s sport. She's like a game maker in her studio, cryptically detailing every dusting of makeup and folding in the fabric. She does everything to create the perfect still only trusting her own hands to the jobs of author, director, makeup artist, hair stylist, model, and creator of the costumes. Her performative works have become a staple of contemporary art worldwide. Characteristics of her work include self-portraits, identity deconstruction, theatrical scenarios, and female representation.

Sherman’s influence can be seen through her performative and conceptual pictures - challenging the conventional norms. Her photos are considered one of the first to explore issues of gender and identity by deconstructing the cliché of many modern problems, and with these photos, she has started a wave of influence with her dynamic technique. Sherman also doesn’t shy away from controversial topics, but instead challenges them head-on. The performative nature of her photos allows her to address many socio-political issues critically. 

Untitled #228 is a masterful work of conceptual art meeting classic Botticelli oil paintings, yet fooling the viewers (since it's a photograph). The piece is the story of Judith and Holofernes, a story during the Renaissance-Baroque era (16th-17th century). The story goes that the young and beautiful Judith seduced Holofernes (a general invading her town) and sliced his head off, saving her people. Classic paintings of this, such as works from Caravaggio and Sirani, depict Judith as a charming girl, yet frail, wielding a knife and posing with the head of Holofernes in a manner of extreme elegance. 

Sherman mocks this rendition of Judith. Her portrayal of Judith is poised yet lacking the gracefulness of many women in the Renaissance-Baroque periods. Judith has a fake face, one that is artificially beautiful and contrasts with the violence of the story. She is draped in red, symbolizing sensuality and violence. She seems to have thick and large feet which conflict with her dainty frame. Sherman wants to emphasize the sham of her predecessors in the artwork of Judith and Holofernes by perfectly capturing the false construction of Judith depicted by past male artists.