Holly Fischer

Lives and works in Raleigh, NC

Artist statement

HOLLY FISCHER www.HollyFischer.com My work explores paradoxes inherent in perceptions of femininity: beauty is both an admired asset and a mistrusted superficiality. I am inspired by the dangerous and alluring beauty of carnivorous plants and poisonous underwater creatures. These seductive and deadly forms readily become metaphors for our culture’s inherent mistrust of female empowerment and common fears regarding gender fluidity and overt sexuality. By pairing sensual forms with aggressive, visceral, or tension-inducing elements, I aim to push against surface beauty and reveal darker, complex, potentially sinister interiors that are in opposition to compliant femininity. My work challenges binary restrictions that create an artificial separation between feminine and masculine qualities. I seek to embrace dualities through the morphing of seemingly incongruous attributes to form new identities that are at once familiar and strange, mysterious and beguiling. I hope reconciling these unexpected juxtapositions will encourage observers to question the nature of their fears and desires and contemplate assumptions regarding beauty, gender, and sexuality.

Artwork