Em Whipple

Artist Statement

My work is an exploration of concepts and themes of gender identity within and beyond social norms and expectations. The imagery and inspiration for my work is sourced from advertisements and applied to the documentation of individuals that have defined themselves outside of the cisgender-heterosexual(cishet)-white social standard. The combination of image and text is inspired by advertisement layout but lacks the quick readability, prompting the viewer to search for meaning within the letters.  While it is impossible to represent all, my work is meant to represent individuals that have existed as “Other”. I am inspired by artists that have a unique way of integrating identity and activism such as, Barbara Krueger, Jenny Holzer, Adrian Piper, Lorna Simpson, and The Guerilla Girls. My goal as an artist is to encourage individuals who have not had to justify or contemplate their gender identity to ask themselves what their values and expectations are for themselves and others based on aspects such as social media, advertising, education, etc. Additionally, prompting the viewer to be empathetic and understand what it is like to break through social expectations of the relationship between a person’s characteristics and their gender identity.