perfect

artist statement: jen hellow

jen hellow misses the ocean, finds inspiration in things that go terribly wrong, and hopes everyone, including herself, learns to love their neighbor. her least favorite body parts are the stretch marks on her stomach, the cellulite on her butt and thighs, and the way her toenails will sometimes grow into the skin of her toes and create big clumps of dead skin she then feels she must pick at with her fingernails. she also dislikes her nose, thinks it is too big; she was called pinnochio as a child. she's learning to love every inch of her body. this is not an easy process when one has been programmed by society to not love themselves.

project statement: perfect

i came to this on a whim and it developed as a way to challenge myself and my (volunteer) subjects. the desire to be open to my own insecurities led me to find people willing to be open to theirs, to open a dialogue about body image. i've learned sometimes people hate what they've changed, hate what only they see, hate parts without which they wouldn't be them.
all of us are perfect, perfect beautiful humans with beautifully perfect body parts. this portfolio holds up a mirror to that idea, to test the ideals of beauty, the idea of flaw, and the ideas encompassed in shame, identity, and confidence. not everyone has a least favorite body part, but to those who do, know others don't hate it, aren't embarrassed by it, love you for it anyway.