(click each image to enlarge)

These works comprise an installation entitled Detritus (cosmetic pads), which was displayed at Karsh-Masson gallery as a part of the exhibition SELFIE (March 17 - April 19) in 2015, and which was acquired by the City of Ottawa in 2016.

These works can be described as an examination of the concept of the self-portrait, traditionally considered to be a representation of the artist's body or face. Here, each object records “a day in the life”, whereby makeup worn during the day is wiped clean at the conclusion of the day. Not immediately recognizable, the objects are visually fascinating, each with its actual real-world use etched upon its face. These images can stand in as a daily self-portrait of the artist, collected day after day, a record of time and an embodiment of one's own personal history. The body is preserved in the image, in the presence of eyelashes here and there; in this way, the piece begins to take on elements of a religious relic, a kind of “shroud of turin” of the artist. Questions of femininity and beauty are also raised here, as the initially abstract images take on a different meaning once it is understood that they represent garbage, but a garbage whose business has been that of beauty.

This installation is a part of a larger ongoing series entitled DETRITUS, whereby the artist collects objects that traditionally are considered valueless or even garbage as a means to explore notions of human consumption, the body, beauty, and femininity. - o.j., 2015