I am interested in what I call “somatic epistemology,” the interrelationship of knowledge, consciousness, and bodily experience – how we know what we know through our bodies.
During Naked State I will continue working on a series of performative, digital self-portraits that are reactions to the representation and role of the female body online, and which incorporate references to historical images of the woman’s body in the literal and figurative landscape of American history. I will photograph myself nude, in various poses and landscapes, and creating digital collages which reference historical (and contemporary) compositions involving the female body. This work will examine the absurdities and hypocrisies of social media’s “community guidelines,” which often allow for much more freedom and autonomy for male bodies, and continue to sexualize and objectify women’s bodies. It will also explore ways in which historical depictions of women (and absences thereof) affect the way we see ourselves now.
Much of my work has to do with feminist advocacy through online activism, crowd-sourcing, social media, digital media mash-ups, and re-imagining historical paradigms through a personal, feminist lens. I have been researching and working with the history of nudity as a form of protest (in the US, this dates back to the 1660s); the history of the woman’s body in the streets (through protest, labor, leisure); and the literal mapping of women’s history and accomplishments across the US.
Micol Hebron is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes studio work, curating, writing, social media, crowd-sourcing, teaching, public-speaking, and both individual and collaborative projects. Her work employs strategies of consciousness-raising, collaboration, generosity, play, and participation to support and further feminist dialogues in art and life. She has presented exhibitions, performances, and lectures at numerous international institutions. Hebron is the founder of the LA Art Girls, the co-founder of Fontbron Academy, and the founder/director of The Situation Room resource space for the creative community; the Gallery Tally Poster Project about gender equity in contemporary galleries; and the Digital Pasty/Gender Equity initiative for the internet. She lives and work in Los Angeles, where she is an Associate Professor of Art at Chapman University.