FANTASY 1993

The THEME I chose to go with is Fantasy and the Artist I chose to go with is Cindy Sherman. Although tempted by many other pieces of hers, I ultimately decided upon Fortune Teller because it was created the year I was born. That fascinates me to think about how a work of art I admire so much was coming alive when I was arriving into this world. 

Cindy Sherman, Untitled (Fortune Teller),
1993

I believe Fantasy us a major reoccurring theme in her work. There is the side of portraying someone's reality, but at the same time, she is never giving you any pre-conceived notions to what her work is "supposed" to be representing or telling you. I believe the necessity of imagination from the viewer is what fuels the Fantasy theme in her work—even on her part in making the work. I love that her work does not beg for direct answers or logistics. For me, it's incredibly satisfying to gaze at an image and imagine what was occurring before, during and after the photo was taken. Since her work is staged—yet sometimes you wouldn't know that to be true if you were unfamiliar with her work—you have this freedom to imagine the entire life of the character she is portraying. 

In this particular piece, I love imagining the space in which this fortune teller gives readings, the aroma of the space itself, the texture of the carpets, curtains, and clothing, the overall feeling inside of the space, all her tools and if they are neatly organized or spread all over the place—beyond that, if she is married, if she has kids, what her friends are like, if she has a home or if this space doubles as her home, what part of the world she lives in and most of all, if her work fulfills her. I love that she clearly works with numerology and I wonder why. This photo begs so many questions of me, and being as curious as I have always been, it's a gold mine of inspiration and fascination for me.