Erica Lynch

Artist Statement

These pictures are taken to portray an aura of darkness and speechlessness. My series consists of fifteen color portraits that are each edited with a cool cyan tone for a cinematic mood.  All of the pictures include aspects of a personal and relatable struggle that I would like to display.

Each portrait that I took contains the faces and bodies of my closest friends.  Instead of photographing strangers, it brought more intimacy and complexity to the meaning of the series.  I chose their outfits and arranged their body placement; where they looked, the position of their mouths, how to place their arms and legs, and arranged their hair how I wanted.  I took the pictures in the woods to enhance the mysterious atmosphere of the portraits themselves.

I found that I was inspired by many artists that appreciated femininity and pointed out the suppression of young people. Therefore, I decided I wanted to make my art series of similar content.  The emotions conveyed by the portraits are sadness, loneliness, a feeling of being trapped in one’s own skin, not always having the ability to speak their own mind.  I believe a lot of young women growing up in this society feel this way, as I have experienced these emotions throughout the past few years as well.  I want people to find something to relate to in my work, even if my audience is not necessarily just women.  I hope that people can be intrigued by this series enough to acknowledge the room for change in our society.