My most recent body of work, “Burdens of a White Dress,” is a set of surreal self portraits that reflect being born in a fringe religious movement. The project’s title refers to the emphasis placed on a woman’s role in my childhood. A woman’s value was intrinsically tied to her purity and virginity; after marriage that value shifted into the realm of motherhood. By using a square format and a stark palette, violently splashed with red, I explore the concepts of shame, of evil, of wantonness, and of the blood of womanhood, birth and death.


Because this was my own personal experience of leaving a repressive religious environment, I often use myself as a model. My body is then contorted or manipulated to demonstrate the internal effects of the struggle that it is to free one’s mind from a controlling belief system, and to demonstrate the repressed place that femininity had in my world.

Bio:
Jen Kiaba is an artist and educator who grew up in an oppressive religious cult, and made her way out in her early twenties. She is now an award winning photographer who believes that we experience healing and liberation when we access our inner voice and share our stories, paving the way for others to find their own paths to freedom. She writes and speaks publicly to provide encouragement and tools to fellow artists who are seeking to locate and liberate their inner voice.

http://www.jenkiabaphotography.com