Activist artist Haley Morris-Cafiero presents a newly-commissioned and highly personal series of self-portraits at Luton’s Departure Lounge gallery this autumn.
Morris-Cafiero can be described as part performer, part artist, part provocateur and part spectator. Her work explores themes of body image, online bullying and societal expectations about female appearance.
In this new photographic series, Weight Bearing, Morris-Cafiero has responded to the alarming reports of increased requests for help with disordered eating during the Coronavirus lockdown by drawing on her own experience of living with an undiagnosed eating disorder, many years ago.
In these new self-portraits Morris-Cafiero uses imagery and symbols from everyday situations to communicate the invisible feelings that she associates with trying to control her body’s size and conform to expectations from society and the media about how women should look.
Haley Morris-Cafiero said: “Imagine that you are trying to push an oval-shaped ball into a hole. When you push the ball towards the hole, it moves in a different direction. After multiple tries, the ball is finally over the hole and you discover that the hole is too small. This is how I would describe my attempt to control my body and to meet other people’s expectations of how I should look. I hope the images help those who are struggling with an eating disorder to find their voice and seek help”.
Haley Morris-Cafiero: Weight Bearing | Press Release
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