Madeline Auble: Self-portrait split subject

By: Madeline Auble

This collection is a series of fragmented recollections of my past, path, and physical place within the world and my own psyche. This photographic map was created with the intention of investigating the societal and emotional imprints that continue to shape my experience.

Madelaine Auble

The act of pursuing one’s self is of essential import to understanding our place in the world. We do not know ourselves; our purpose, until we fully realize the shape and influence of our past and the factors that shape our perspective. This work’s main focus is on the formation of self and personal place as assigned to us by our value systems and experiences. The impact of society at large and the role of women (including myself) is pertinent and pressing to the investigation.

The work expresses the link between identity, location and the psychological realities of experiences as they impact our recollections. A supposition through image that are richly layered and complex.

Savannah

I wanted to capture the sentiment surrounding the events and places that have impacted me in my life, as opposed to just simply reproducing a past experience verbatim. The images are all re-­creation of some experience I have deemed of value but, the experience and therefore the image itself is abstracted from the layers of time and confusion that are inherent factors of memory and trauma. This is the process of collecting, sorting and untangling the inner self not the polished product of the external self.

lovelock 4

Each miniature doll is a handcrafted self-portraits placed in a physical setting. They are sketches that represent an authentic account of the perception of my place in society at different junctions of my life. They are witness to and symbol of, the more formative moments in my life. They not only embody my personal testimony but also provide a larger contextual view of the experiences at hand.

The photographs are created through a process of lighting and layering the physical scene to create the colors that express the physical moment. I did not use Photoshop or any other editing software to manipulate the colors or create effects.

The colors green and yellow played an important role in the lighting of the work as a whole. When used as a light cast rather than a pigment, yellow-­green creates a ghostly glow indicative of mental instability and illness that aided in the overall mood. Grey also played an important role in the overall narrative. The mystery and ambiguity associated with grey paired with green and yellow created a fervor that acted as an emotional definition.

lovelock 8

The images are a cyclical series connected to one another through short or long steps, distances, and durations of time. Searching exists in the intervals between images.

The relationship between each image in the presentation relates the internal evaluation process that exists within the creation of the work to the viewer.

It is also worth noting that the heart of what I am trying to articulate through my work is innately feminine. It is my experience and belief that the social enslavement of women has shifted from primarily existing in the domestic sphere to dominantly thriving in the social public sphere.