1992 Fictitious Portraits
Constructed Photographic Images
Look closely at Keith Cottingham's constructed reality. Beneath the surface of what simply appears to be photographic realism, Cottingham uses anatomical drawings, wax, digital painting, and montage to explore where the body (race, gender age) and the mind (one's sense of self) collide. As identity and perception are called into question, the images do not pulse with humanity and life force. Instead, they radiate a sterile and silent modern aura that embodies a subtle, somewhat horrifying beauty.
The imaginary images in "Fictitious Portraits" depict the alienation and fragmentation of image from matter, and of soul from body. Ultimately, Cottingham challenges what is perceived as portraiture, for there were no actual models used for this series.
"By destabilizing photographic representation, the series demonstrates that the self is not generated out of an internal dialogue alone. Instead, the very core of personhood is dependent upon the body. In effect, we are our race, gender, and age. Yet, because the self is fluid, and able to change, we cannot be reduced to our exterior attributes. I tease out the fluidity of identity… like a mobious strip upon which internal and external realities write the body. Flesh and soul are two sides of a coin that has circulated for so long that its humanly fabricated nature has been all but forgotten."
