During Naked State art residency I will explore nuances between a “real” and naked body, in contrast to a “fake” and controlled body. Considering I will be new to public nudity, I will start by learning to be comfortable and loving my body through my experience in the Bare Oaks naturist community. This will most likely involve mingling with the community to understand naturists’ thoughts regarding their bodies and how they worked towards being body-positive. Inspired my interactions, I will then incorporate myself into video and photographic artworks that play with shape wear in ways that express its absurdity.
I am inspired by control pants that encourage ideal bodily form and posture, to more extreme measures of plastic surgery that permanently sculpt fat and flesh. Through my art, I wish reveal how the Media exploits people’s psyches through a manufacturing of shame for the purpose of turning a profit. I often employ comedy as a form of expression.
Natalie Wardle is an emerging visual artist/photographer from Manchester, England. Her work looks at how women constrict there bodies to fit in with society’s ideal body types, exploring shape wear and tape that is placed over nipples to both cover and repress their form. She graduated with a BA in Photography from Manchester School of Art.