Living Doll

A departure from the subject of her previous works, which focused on educational institutions and their various advantages and limitations, Rivera's new direction is at once erotic and eerie, with the lifeless 'mannequin'-like bodies positioned in animated poses and dressed only in shoes, tights or socks. Incredibly, the body seen in the snaps belongs to Lissa, with the daring photographer altering it in Photoshop after each separate pose has been taken. The chest area on the bodies are left bare, while some have wigs on and others have no heads at all. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Rivera was named One of the 25 Under 25 Up-and-Coming American Photographers and the Woman to Watch from the State of Massachusetts, two coveted accolades in her hometown. Lissa says of the new series: "Digital photography has created a platform for new investigations of the body. A melancholic and obsessive search for comfort that maybe more conceivable on the screen of the computer than in the world 'outside.' For my phallic self I play the female muse. I become Bellmer's poupee, painfully amputating my limbs for the role.  By being the subject in this recreation of masculine desire, I interrogate my objectified body. The history of feminine passivity in Western art can be clearly seen in the role of woman as model and muse. Woman as inspiration not creator, woman as a vessel for a man's own accomplishments, the classical modes in which my visual identities are based upon." Experimental and always ahead of the artistic curve, we will certainly be keeping our beady little eye on this blossoming young artiste.
www.lissarivera.com / Images: Lissa Rivera