To dress as another is to see oneself in a new light.
It is to embrace the character we would like to be.
It is my escape.
BrightSide uses her passion for fancy dress to reflect her feelings and current personal issues through the use of screen printing and hand painting onto mirrors. BrightSide’s images are loosely based around connections to both pre-existing animation characters and those from her vivid imagination. BrightSide’s characters act as reflections of herself and observations of her desires, drawn together by her want to shift, change or indulge.
“The world I grew up in was one of pure fantasy and romanticism – Escapism was a day-to-day habit. My challenge now is to become aware of my patterns and unravel them. My work is the means by which I am coming to an acceptance of reality.”
Through expressing her desire to continually grow and develop as a person, BrightSide uses herself in the only way she knows: fancy dress, character-types and the texture of mirrors, with just a touch of symbolism. BrightSide’s representation of herself, in turn, represents what she hopes the viewer of her work will see. Thus, we – the audience – can see how easily identity can be pigeonholed.
Symbolism
BrightSide’s use of symbolism through iconic logos makes comment on the way in which we conform to the perceptions and expectations of others. By juxtaposing recognizable Fairytale characters and corporate logos, BrightSide challenges the assumptions one makes in a community setting and global arena.
“Snow White, for example, essentially personifies the whole ‘white knight in shining armor’ shit that, as young girls, we are falsely led to buy into. So it is, that my Snow White is shown similarly damaged by her dream.”
This body of work uses familiar imagery to explore the unknown. The Fairytale characters symbolize childhood fantasy, while the corporate logos encapsulate a world of fantasy within a colder, business driven world. Together they challenge how the unseen parts of oneself can be viewed and question, “Whom do we really know inside and out?
Mirrors
“Do we ever see the true light of ourselves? Or do we indulge in accepting another’s perception?
Do you conform to something others want you to be?”
Whether for vanity or for encouragement, mirrors are tools by which we observe ourselves. In many ways, the act of looking into your eyes – to see, view, perceive and observe – through a mirror allows you to gaze/speak directly into your subconscious/soul. This subconscious/soul is the ‘true you’. However, the inner monologue often double guesses it, restricting one’s ability to just be – to move forward in life.
Mirrors hold a personal obsession for BrightSide.
“I have often found myself staring into my own eyes in mirrors. I grew up giving myself pep talks. Whether I was upset and in need to pull myself together to face a room, or on a date and fixing my hair, or drunkenly trying to sober up after riding the porcelain bus after too many shandies and tequila shooters, it was the mirror to whom I spoke.”
BrightSide’s mirrors tell a three-fold tale: the story of BrightSide’s relationship with herself; the fable of BrightSide’s relationship with character-types; and BrightSide’s engagement with her viewers.
“Whether I have persistently viewed myself through other people’s eyes and not my own is something I am still understanding, but I do know I have been working on who I am rather than what people want me to be. I am BrightSide and there is one hell of a story to tell. So sit tight, the bus is about to leave… Beer anyone?”
In viewing this work, there are many questions asked of the viewer: ‘What does the viewer see, view, perceive and observe? At what point does the eye of the beholder alter the reality of the physical form? What do you see? Whilst a painting is a hard form, does the reflection of others encourage us to step closer to BrightSide’s world and understand her within it, or do we view ourselves, and our surroundings, within the image presented?’ Ultimately, it is the power of BrightSide’s mirrors that inform the endless possibilities of what we like and what we hate
A friend to be is an imagination to capture
A concept to hold, a reflection to see
Fantasy is never a reality
And being Earthbound is challenging
But joy is in the journey of discovery
Not just the Happy Ending.
I bow
I wear tutus.
Katie Bright Brightside.
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Future
Future body of works will include the use of old pub mirrors. Here, the idea of ‘mirror-memory’ will be explored.
“If a mirror could talk what would it say? How many people have gazed at their reflections, only to be embarrassed once caught?”
Mirrors see people picking their noses and squeezing their spots in lifts when they think they are riding it alone. Mirrors see people craftily admiring their own reflections, out the corner of an eye, in windowpanes and hotel lobbies. Mirrors see voyeurism at its best. Funnily, we all do get slightly self-conscious once we realize we have been caught staring at ourselves, but it’s something we all do unconsciously – to see if everything is in place and to keep tabs on our perception of reality. Whether we love or hate what we see, the mirror sees it all.
Look into the mirror and you will see me.
I may be in fancy dress, but remember,
I’m just a girl trying to figure out who I am and where the fuck I fit in.
Fairytale Perspective on Love:
This concept is derived from how fairytales in particular, have skewed my vision of romance. The work acts as part of a self-reprogramming experiment. I have chosen several fable characters to identify with. Each character represents a percentage of my personality, (good and naughty) and acts as a pathway for self-discovery. Perhaps, I will find what I’m looking for – without the necessity for that ‘knight in shining armor to unexpectedly show up and rescue me.
1) Some Day My Prince Will Come – Snow White:
Snow White is lost in the forest with nowhere to turn. She is encapsulated in the poisoned apple. On the surface, the viewer sees Snow White as the ‘Beauty’ that brightens the lives of others. And yet, just beneath, she is desperate in her wait for her Prince.
2) X Some Day My Prince Will Come – Snow White:
Snow White is fetishised in an image of her in bondage and trapped by Swords. Until she frees herself, the castle in which her prince awaits will always be out of reach.
3) Off With Their Heads – Queen of Hearts:
The Queen of Hearts – a grotesque representation of a woman unable to relinquish control. Her King will always be weaker than her, for she doesn’t think she deserves a true equal.
4) X Off With Their Heads – Queen of Hearts:.
The Queen of Hearts is depicted as dominatrix and submissive at the same time. She is her own worst enemy and will eventually destroy herself. She has cut her own head off.
5) If had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense – Alice:
Alice is framed in the bunny logo. She, with men as her bunnies, is depicted trapped down the rabbit hole. Here, she has become larger than life in over-compensation for her insecurities. Alice’s desire for nonsense acts as a protective cloak that hides her true self from others.
6) X If had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense – Alice:
Alice sits spreadeagled atop the Mad Hatter’s tea table. Six characters inquisitively surround her – she is their curious object. Alice is blindfolded and can no longer seek nonsense. In this position she ceases to hide her true self. Rather, she submits to it.
7) You Beasts – Cruella De Vil:
You’ve won the battle, but I’m about to win the wardrobe. My spotty puppy coat is in plain sight and leaving tracks. In a moment I’ll have what I came for, while all of you will end up as sausage meat, alone on some sad, plastic plate, dead and meaty and red. No friends, no family, no pulse. Just slapped between two buns, smothered in onions, with fries on the side. Cruella De Vil has the last laugh!
Cruella is her own worst enemy. Racing against time, Cruella grips the steering wheel. Eyes crazed and teeth gritted, she is literally driving herself crazy in her quest to get what she desires.
8 ) X You Beasts – Cruella De Vil:
Cruella stands out front a brothel, dressed in nothing but her coat and lingerie. The sexually repressed old hag lets it all hang out, proudly showing off her coat of conquests. Sex has become the lure for possible love. In the background neon lights voice her subconscious scream: “Like me”.
