Galleries by Kiana Nguyen

• Constructing Her: femininity as performance, spectacle, and control — For this curation, I bring together artworks that explore femininity not as something natural or fixed, but as something socially constructed, performed, observed, and consumed. Across photography, installation, sculpture, and performance art, the selected works examine the pressures placed on women to embody idealized versions of beauty, behavior, vulnerability, and desirability. Rather than presenting femininity as stable or authentic, these artists reveal how female identity is shaped through performance, spectatorship, domestic expectations, and systems of control. One of the central questions guiding this exhibition is: how much femininity is genuinely self-defined, and how much is constructed through social expectations and visual culture? I am interested in artworks that appear visually elegant or refined on the surface while simultaneously carrying emotional tension, discomfort, or psychological unease beneath that appearance. The exhibition progresses from staged feminine presentation toward bodily vulnerability, fragmentation, and objectification, allowing viewers to experience femininity as both spectacle and pressure. Some works directly depict the female body, while others imply it through objects, installations, or fragments. Together, they suggest that femininity is continually shaped through performance, observation, and public consumption. In Ways of Seeing, art critic and author John Berger writes, “Men act, and women appear.” Berger argues that women are conditioned to observe themselves through the imagined perspective of others. Rather than simply existing, they are often expected to shape their appearance and behavior around being seen, judged, and consumed visually. Berger’s ideas are central to this exhibition because each artwork examines the tension between authentic identity and performed femininity. Across these works, femininity becomes staged, disciplined, controlled, or fragmented under public observation. Whether through cinematic self-presentation, domestic performance, bodily vulnerability, racialized spectacle, or artificial beauty standards, the artists reveal how women are frequently transformed into images to be viewed rather than individuals allowed to exist freely. Several concepts from Berger’s work inform this project. First, women are often positioned as images or spectacles for visual consumption. Second, femininity becomes performative through self-surveillance, as appearance, posture, beauty, and behavior are shaped by the awareness of being watched. Finally, Berger connects observation to systems of power, suggesting that looking is not neutral but can shape identity, behavior, and bodily autonomy. The exhibition follows a deliberate sequence. It begins with Cindy Sherman’s staged self-portrait, where femininity appears cinematic and carefully performed. Martha Rosler then introduces the pressures of domestic labor and behavioral expectations, exposing frustration beneath everyday routines. The emotional center is reached with Marina Abramović’s Rhythm 0, where the female body becomes vulnerable to public interaction and control. From there, Kara Walker expands the discussion by connecting femininity to racialized spectacle, consumption, and historical exploitation. Finally, the exhibition concludes with ORLAN’s surgical performance work, where femininity is physically reconstructed through cosmetic procedures shaped by historical beauty ideals. This progression allows the exhibition to become increasingly psychologically unsettling, moving from polished feminine appearance toward fragmentation, vulnerability, and the consequences of being shaped through systems of observation and control. Ultimately, the exhibition invites viewers to question how ideas of femininity are produced, maintained, and consumed, while considering the emotional and physical costs of living under constant scrutiny and expectation. (2 views)