Elise LaMaster

Lives and works in Benton, AR, USA

Artist statement

Gender expression – regardless of if a person identifies as male, female, or nonbinary – is possibly the only universally relatable part of human existence. There is, of course, the biological aspect relating to our anatomical selves, the identity, which is an internal realization of who we are, and then the outward expression of our gender that we present to society. Regardless of whether all three of these sectors exist in harmony within us, many people present as one or the other of the two binaries. As such, there is and has been a notion that men (or people assuming the male binary) seem to expect women to adapt into more modern roles with progressive responsibilities, without progressing themselves. Recently I have been using portrait photography to document people that identify as women in order to discuss the roles, responsibilities, hardships and relationships that come with being a woman – specifically, women in Arkansas. As a state in the Bible belt, Arkansas culture is deeply enmeshed with religion and community involvement as it pertains to the Church. The more women that I meet and work with, the more I see the presence of dual lives in and outside of the context of Christianity. Furthermore, many women are isolated from their community and struggle to find purpose or validation until their story becomes a religious testimony to share and provide credit to a (widely presumed) male God. Not only are gender roles divided due to stigma associated with binaries –...

Artwork