Biography
Girls In Uniform is an ongoing and long-term project since 2003 where I work with staged photography, sculptures and video works. The point of departure is the encounter with western culture – a way of analyzing the past in order to understand the new. The series forms a narrative about transition by using the transformative state from childhood to adulthood as metaphor, and all that which shapes an individual in relation to society – from the Korean schoolgirls via the young girls in a Swedish or Italian landscape. The project has developed into studies of elements in settings where the historical and architectural aspects are of considerable importance.
The uniform has repressive as well as protective qualities. The uniform can be viewed as a “second skin” which represents the norms, orders and collectiveness as well as a protection, shelter and harbor of anonymity. This doubleness makes it possible to create stories about deviation from norms and communities and about creating individual identities.
The choice of settings playing an important role: these events take place in isolated or remote localities, or in heterotopias – spaces that exist with their own set of terms, as parallel universes. In the last few years, the decisions for the site were, to a great extent, based on the location’s history in relation to my theme. In my photographic staging at such locations, my use of models, props, and the situations they are involved in – the history of the site is both reactivated and challenged.
