Jessica Ledwich: essay and portfolio
p. 94-107
Texte intégral
1From an interview with Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled XIII"


Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
2Her photographic series Monstrous Feminine offers a compelling analysis of the beauty standards that women are expected to conform to in contemporary society. Through a series of striking and often unsettling images, Ledwich presents a critique of the way that beauty standards can be both oppressive and empowering, and explores the complex relationship between beauty and femininity.
3Jessica Ledwich is an Australian artist and photographer whose work is primarily concerned with exploring the intersection between beauty, identity, and gender. Among her most acclaimed works is Monstrous Feminine, a series that explores the concept of femininity as monstrous and uncanny and presents a critique of the way that beauty standards can be both oppressive and empowering. The notion of the “Monstrous Feminine”, as coined by feminist theorist Barbara Creed in her book The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism Psychoanalysis, explores the importance of gender in the construct of woman’s monstrosity. Creed, who used it to describe the way that female monsters in horror films, present women as embodying fears and anxieties about femininity and female sexuality. In Ledwich’s work, however, the monstrous feminine takes on a more nuanced and complex meaning. Rather than simply representing a source of fear or anxiety, the monstrous feminine becomes a symbol of the contradictions and ambivalences that underpin contemporary beauty culture. Through a collection of thought-provoking images, Ledwich challenges traditional notions of beauty, gender, and power, inviting the viewer to reconsider their assumptions about what it means to be a woman.
“Untitled V”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled VII”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled II”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled VI”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled X”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
“Untitled IX”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
4The Monstrous Feminine series is grounded in the idea of the uncanny. The term “uncanny” was popularised by Sigmund Freud, who described it as the feeling of unease we experience when something familiar seems strange or unsettling. Ledwich explores this along with the idea of “the abject”, a term coined by psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva to describe the representation of women that are rejected by society. In Monstrous Feminine, Ledwich creates images that are simultaneously familiar and unsettling, tapping into this sense of the uncanny to challenge our preconceptions of femininity.
5One of the most striking features of Monstrous Feminine is the way in which Ledwich subverts traditional beauty standards. Rather than depicting conventionally attractive women, she presents her subjects in ways that are often bizarre and unsettling. In one image, a woman is casually exfoliating her legs in the bath with an industrial sander, while in another she almost comically squeezes herself into a pair of too small underwear. These images challenge our expectations of what it means to be beautiful, and highlights the bizarre and sometimes dangerous ways in which women pursue beauty.
6Yet, while Ledwich’s photographs may initially seem disturbing, they also possess a strange allure. There is something mesmerising about these images of women that are simultaneously monstrous and alluring. In many ways, the photographs in Monstrous Feminine are like modern-day sirens, drawing us in with their unsettling beauty.
7Part of what makes Monstrous Feminine so powerful is the way in which it engages with feminist themes. By presenting femininity as monstrous, Ledwich challenges traditional patriarchal norms that have long defined women as either objects of desire or maternal figures. Womanly duties such as cooking and cleaning are interspersed with clinical petri dishes and sharp implements suggesting that there is a more complex, nuanced, and sometimes disturbing reality to femininity.
8One of the most striking images in the series we see a woman lying on a table with a large gash across her chest. A pair of plastic breasts lie next to her, suggestive of breast implant surgery, or is it perhaps reconstructive? Regardless, she grips the scalpel, suggesting she has agency in this scenario.
9At its core, the Monstrous Feminine series is an exploration of the way that beauty standards shape our understanding of femininity, and the impact that this can have on women’s sense of self-worth and identity. Throughout the series, Ledwich uses a variety of techniques to create images that are simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, forcing the viewer to confront the contradictions and complexities of contemporary beauty culture. In many ways, Ledwich’s photographs can be seen as a response to the male gaze. Throughout history, women have been depicted in art and media as passive objects of male desire. In Monstrous Feminine, Ledwich subverts this narrative by presenting women as active, powerful figures. Yet, at the same time, the images she creates are often unsettling, questioning societies view that there is something inherently monstrous about women who are in control of their own bodies and desires.
“Untitled XII”

Monstrous Feminine series, 2022, Jessica Ledwich
Auteurs
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