Nicole Chaput

Biquini Wax TV presents Mi madre es un ventilador con cara de vaca, a solo show by Nicole Chaput curated by Aurélie Vandewynckele that brings together a series of four anthropomorphized cosmetic accessories.

Placed at our eye level, these woman-comb, woman-crystal, woman-mascara wand and woman-powder brush gaze at us defiantley, daring us to grab them. Intriguing, apparently imobile and forbidden to the touch, these utensils become objects of desire. The fantasy to use and hold them can be satisfied through the exhibition text: a user guide that facilitates a platonic relationship with the works, reminiscent of our intimate and cotidian rituals.

With this body of work, Nicole Chaput reflects upon the objectification of female bodies.She presents a fusion between cosmetic utensils and scraps of women clustered together, whose anatomies embody habitual tools used to polish their appearance. These silhouettes pose a perverse and doubly sinister scenario where women employ instrumentalized female bodies, so that they, once exquisite, are also victims of becoming thingified. Charmingly cruel, the four works on display personify the tensions that exist within cosmetic apparatuses as double edged swords that promote oppressive representations of the female body, while they also invite an emancipatory game that allows for a fictionalized veneer.

— Biquini Wax TV