Sophia Olivieri
Porcelain, 2023,
Laser engravings on porcelain tiles
‘Porcelain’ is made up of fifteen laser engraved bathroom tiles which depict mise-en-scenes of women within the space of the bathroom, derived from films spanning across various genres and time periods. The work investigates the bathroom as a filmic space, often being emblematic of vulnerability and intervention into one’s privacy. Olivieri chose to highlight the various tropes which tend to ruminate within the bathroom such as female objectification and voyeurism, violence against women within the horror genre and female contemplation. Narratively, the private and intimate space of the bathroom is employed by filmmakers as an area in which climax and eruption occurs through confrontation, inspection and exposure. The tension between ‘privacy’ and ‘intervention’ within the space is further emphasised through the etching of the tiles, which provides a degree of invisibility until it is manoeuvred by audiences and shifted under the light, revealing the mise-en-scene’s iconography.
What images, tropes and narratives are naturalised to us through Hollywood film? How does our consumption of these images impact our understanding of cultures, interpersonal relationships and gender dynamics? These are the questions which influence and direct Sophia's practice. Her work intervenes in the iconography and imagery present within film, specifically Hollywood film, which often depicts and perpetuates notions of female subordination, cultural stereotypes and hyper-masculinity. Within the work Olivieri looks at different avenues in which she can take the existing media and reframe, dissect and abstract it, allowing a new dialogue is able to emerge. This is typically achieved through regurgitating filmic imagery through unconventional mediums and surfaces such as textiles and tiling, often materials present within the home and associated with the domestic and feminine. Sophia further looks at creating interactive and tactile experiences for audiences as they uncover and determine the obscured mise-en-scenes before them.
