The Foul and The Fair

The Foul and The Fair—a project set within the haunting ambiance of a butcher’s domain, where the echoes of slaughter mingle with the scent of decay. Here, the dissonance between feminine curves and lifeless flesh becomes a visual meditation on the contradictions of existence. Merging the elegance of ballet with the grotesque reality of the flesh, the series explores themes from Carolyn Korsmeyer’s Aesthetics of Disgust and Julia Kristeva’s Powers of Horror, which I examine further in my dissertation “The Allure of the Macabre”. It is a study of beauty in darkness, life in death, and strength within fragility.

Influenced by the visceral power of Francis Bacon, Ilaria Facci, Chaim Soutine, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Caravaggio, the work navigates the threshold between horror and grace. Each film still or photograph becomes a tableau vivant, confronting the viewer with the vulnerability of the human form and its unsettling truths. Through this surreal lens, The Foul and The Fair challenges conventional ideals of beauty and invites introspection, dialogue, and an acceptance of the complex nature of our shared human experience.