Emily Campbell
Paper Women
SCHOOL OF TURBULENCE
A research work by dancer/choreographer Emily Campbell
Artist statement
She served in fact to establish the cannon of beauty, one that all women, for over a
hundred years, would seek in desperation to emulate:
Three white things: Skin, teeth and hands.
Three red: Lips, cheeks, nails.
Three long: Body, hair, hands.
Three short: Teeth, ears, feet.
Three narrow: Mouth, waist, toes.
Three small: Nipples, nose, head.
(Galvada, 2006)
A paper woman is a doll, she is a shell; she is a cut-out. She is a photocopy of an idealized perception of reality. A study in contradiction; oscillating between extremities as she seeks to be everything to everyone. Her truth fading so slowly and with such regularity that it goes unnoticed to all and she forgets who and what she is. Knowing only - that it was once, and still should be, something more than this.
Emily Campbell