Randi Lynne Woolford
Target Practice
I am a multidisciplinary artist who examines issues of woman on woman targetization of the aesthetics of the female body, transformative idealism, egoism and femininity through interdisciplinary painting. In my past, my life within a family of professional beauticians and my struggles with eating disorder obsession inform my current practice. My work speaks towards problematizing how we perceive women’s bodies as literal and figurative targets for transformation, comparison and belittlement through paint and installation. I approach my practice with an emphasis on the shape and physical space of the female body to exaggerate the silhouette and avoid the geometrical constructs of traditional canvases. Presenting the bodies up in a row helps emphasize the aspect of the target as if they are set up to become shot at. I aim to evoke a genuine sense of discomfort, allowing the damaging effects of comments and thoughts about women’s bodies to be actualized in a visually exaggerated way. I believe elaborating these themes as interconnected is relevant because I feel the obligatory need to share this common expression of internalized stress. This collection of paintings contributes to my understanding of this behaviour that encompasses an identity slowly built by self-hatred, distress and egoism.
Artist Inspiration
In my practice, I aim to analyze the social constructs of societal standards based on femininity, sexuality and the concept of fragility. Often examining eating disorder behavior and how it emanates from the definition of femininity and sexuality and therefore reflect that internal window of obsessive behavior in my work. Within my process of making, I am interested in symbolic imagery. This imagery being is about ideas such as picking, staring, and guilt that I believe follow the mentality of eating behavior in young women. This behavior is encompassing an identity that is slowly built by self-hatred, distress and egoism. I try to study both oil paint and clay and their ability to express strength, delicacy, and stability in this context.
biography
Randi Woolford is a recent University of Calgary Graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Honors First Class program. She has also completed her Visual Arts Diploma at Red Deer College. She is from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Randi is an artist, short story writer, and student. She wishes to apply her newfound skills and creative potential toward a master’s degree in painting. She is interested in studying the artwork and history of female artists and the LGBTQ community and how they influenced the artistic society today. She is interested in discovering the limitations and self-expression within gender, body positivity, sexuality, racial bias, and the feminine experience through her artwork.