Lindsay Merrill

Self

Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, I moved to Tallahassee in 2020 to pursue a degree in Media Communications and Studio Art at Florida State University. For my artwork, I seek to create pieces that my audience can find humor within. I strive to include ironic, over-the-top, and at times downright ridiculous elements to remind the audience not to take the work or themselves too seriously. I like to create art that is visually overwhelming with enough detail and color to entice the viewer to really look around. Essentially, I strive to keep the viewer entertained. I want the onlooker to feel like they can notice something new about it every time they look at my work. I enjoy adding details that make the piece feel like its own world and allow the audience to project their own stories and ideas onto it. My work plays with bright, saturated colors to attract attention and keep each piece feeling lighthearted and fun, even when darker scenes are being depicted.

My body of work is inspired by feminist and surrealist ideals, stemming from my own experiences as a woman and an absurd person. I created this abstract self-portrait, Self, to represent a, quite literally, stripped-down version of myself. I rendered myself in a delicate and demure position with tea and jewelry to play into the traditional idea of womanhood in which we are expected to take on unassuming roles. I added the gore element to push against these ideals and twist the delicate perception of my feminine identity, in addition to the genderless appearance of my skeleton body. I included the growing eyes within the background to emphasize the way gender continues to be a watched and policed subject, in which one is constantly expected to meet certain expectations through behavior and presentation.