Riel Barbon
Somnium Terram, 2021
In a patriarchal system in which neither men nor women can truly gain, where men’s loss of emotional freedom inhibits all growth and connection with their own spirit and women are forced to fit into a mould the unattainable, femininity is denied and masculinity becomes the standard of power. This unbalanced system breeds violence, inequality and pain.
Through my own female gaze, I choose to present liberation in forms that are most personal to me. I challenge toxic patriarchal standards, seeking truth and authenticity and freedom through a creative expression of my own sensuality and my sexual expression.
My project considers how digital platforms taint the image of beauty, creating pressures to conform to unachievable aesthetic expectations, leading to body dysphoria, insecurities and feelings of unworthiness. It focuses on celebrating the raw sensuality of the woman’s body – it’s scars, marks, skin, shape and strength. As a woman of colour living in a Western society which favours the system of white supremacy that brainwashes women of all ages to seek validation in fitting into a hegemonic notion of beauty I want to bring confidence and to advocate for women of all shapes, sizes, shades and tones, to relish the beauty of their individuality. To detach themselves from the self-deprecating narrative that they are simply not worthy of the love, to learn to love themselves and to find true liberation from the constraints of such degrading beliefs. In short, to rewire our thoughts and unlearn what we, as women, have been forced to think.
Somnium Terram, 2021
Director and Producer: Riel Barbon
Director of Photography: Chris Miclaus, Chloe Bobwana
Models: Ishpree Kaur, Shaquire Wiltshire, Isabel Ponsea, Saf Abbas
