I was 16 when I first heard the name Cindy Sherman, referenced in the lyrics of a Chicks on Speed song ('deep down they say I'm vermin/ got more faces than Cindy Sherman'- Yes! I Can.) Not long after, thanks to the wonders of internet search engines, I was able to see her many faces first hand and instantly fell in love with each one of them. Sherman's untitled collection of self-portraits and dream-like images evoke the eerie sense of dark atmosphere that could easily pass them off as film stills from a lost early David Lynch or Polanski film. She captured her emotions and tone so well in the self portraits, Andy Warhol was quoted as saying "She's good enough to be a real actress."
"By turning the camera on herself, Cindy Sherman has built a name as one of the most respected photographers of the late twentieth century. Although the majority of her photographs are pictures of her, these photographs are most definitely not self-portraits. Rather, Sherman uses herself as a vehicle for commentary on a variety of issues of the modern world: the role of the woman, the role of the artist and many more. It is through these ambiguous and eclectic photographs that Sherman has developed a distinct signature style. Through a number of different series of works, Sherman has raised challenging and important questions about the role and representation of women in society, the media and the nature of the creation of art." (source)
"I didn't think of what I was doing as political. To me it was a way to make the best out of what I liked to do privately, which was to dress up." - Cindy Sherman - Black and White Magazine
