Cara Coder

These photos are a series of pieces made to frame the areas of my body that our culture would consider to be flaws. When I began these pieces I also considered these areas of my body to be flawed but as the pieces developed they became somewhat like positive affirmations to me. The frames hold me tightly and push my skin through them to showcase my body parts as the art more than the frames themselves. I hoped that by facing my own insecurities I could not only push my own agenda through my work, but also inspire other women to think differently about their own bodies. The stiffness of the actual frames create a stark contrast to the softness of my skin and can read as somewhat masochistic, but this connotation fits well when one puts into perspective the overarching theme of the female body versus society or culture and what women do to themselves to try and fit the unattainable ideal represented through media. The pieces can also be seen as the embodiment of the mental bondage that I deal with on a daily basis, fighting between thinking I am beautiful the way that I am versus thinking that I need to lose weight to be thought of as beautiful. Without even knowing it, through making this work, my attitudes towards my own body had started to change. I had told myself the positive affirmations so many times that the truth in my work finally became true to me personally. So not only did the work physically transform my body, but the series as a whole ended up changing the way that I think about myself.