Best Before

Today, consumerism feels inescapable. Tomorrow promises more of the same, and the future dims as we feed into a system with no hopeful solutions and no end in sight. At the same time, big corporations are profiting from the manipulation and commodification of bodies—particularly women’s bodies. This is especially troubling in a world where body autonomy and rights seem to be progressing backward.

Inspired by artists like Karin Mack and Alina Szapocznikow, my work examines the intersection of people and things. By humanizing objects, I simultaneously critique the act of objectifying human bodies. If the self is reduced to a static, lifeless ideal—stripped of any authenticity and or expression— does it become more or less valuable, and for whom? Are we no more than just products on a shelf, inching toward an expiry date?

Through this series of diptychs, contrasting inanimate elements with people, I question how society is conditioned to view women as commodities, how we view ourselves, and how we, in turn, perpetuate and internalize these harmful narratives. What role does consumerism culture play in shaping or altering one’s identity, and what, if anything, can we reclaim?