Cathy Germay- In the Spirit of Frida Kahlo
MI
ph: 1-269-324-4362
Creative
The Truth Behind the Image:
Exploring Mass Media's Effect on Society
From the first cave paintings, to the massive advertising campaigns of today, images have been used to express and promote the maker’s ideas. This sometimes involved manipulation of the image in order to support the maker’svision. In the beginning, these manipulations (examples: double exposure, burn and dodge etc.) were easy to spot. However, as technology progresses, it becomes ever more difficult to tell when the images, and ourselves, are being manipulated.
"The Truth Behind the Image" is an ongoing series where I explore the impact mass media has on society. The images that we are bombarded with everyday no longer represent reality. They contain people and objects that are tweaked, Photoshopped, digitally corrected and surgically enhanced. Since the technology that alters the images has become almost impossible to detect, children and adults have an unrealistic idea of what the ideal body, product, society, or life should look like.
In these mixed-media paintings, I use mass produced photography from advertisements and magazines to explore the underlying values that we are unconsciously learning from the images that we see. The title of this series is called, “The Truth Behind the Image,” but in reality, these paintings are yet another manipulation of an image, bringing the concept full circle and making us ask ourselves, “Does an objective truth even exist, and if it does, can we ever really know it?”
- -Cathy Germay
MI
ph: 1-269-324-4362
Creative