Biography:
Jordan Oakley was born in Hampshire in 1994. She developed her interest in photography from a young age and was given her first Pentax camera from her Grandfather in 2002. After completing her degree in Photography at The University for the Creative Arts (Farnham) Oakley as since gone on to study for a Masters of Fine Arts also at The University for the Creative Arts (Farnham). She has exhibited her work at the Lightbox Gallery in Woking.
Artist Statement:
My work is based on research exploring social issues surrounding women in today’s society. I have focused on ideas to do with intimacy, social control and the female body. My desire is to take control of this space in response to society’s structures in relation to women’s lives.
My most recent body of work, ‘I am my mother’s daughter’, seeks to express and explore the frustrations of being a female living within a small community. Throughout the series I challenge the emotional impact life in this small community has had on my mental well being. I am interested in representations of women within the confines of the home. I explore themes of frustration, anxiety and suffocation. I deploy a constructed approach to photography using a strong colour palette. My images evoke a dystopian vision disrupting everyday pictures of women. I aim to push the boundaries and perform subjectivity in order to provoke and stimulate new ideas. I want to create a space in which anything can be explored.
The intention is to make a body of work where performance of self-awareness is juxtaposed with an ongoing crisis of identity. I am internalizing the male gaze and challenging what is the role of women in the domestic environment.