All Dolled Up (2023)

Video-documented performance using the gesture of applying makeup to investigate gender norms about female appearance and how they relate to female identity.

Description

With this piece, Henriquez creates a commentary on beauty standards as they relate to femininity. The camera takes the place of a mirror as a young woman (the artist herself) gets ready to do her makeup. However, rather than following the typical steps and strokes intended to flatter the face, the woman does the opposite like a defiant child coloring outside the lines of a coloring book. As the title suggests, the work turns an action typically associated with beauty into one that produces something conventionally considered "ugly". Are women being forced to conform to being a stereotypical doll? Or is there a "Weird Barbie" inside of us all?

Background

This video was inspired not only by my interest in what defines gender norms as they relate to appearance, but also the release of Barbie (2023), which touched upon the female existence in a patriarchal society.