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DIGITAL ZINE 1 2 Mirror Mirror Mirror Mirror

This zine coincides with the Rough Gems exhibition Mirror Mirror Curators’ Statement at Union Hall in Denver, Colorado. February 25-March 20, 2021. “Who is the fairest one of all?” This realities, and transfiguring into other phrase continues to hold power over life forms, these artists present us with Artists Curators Mirror Portrait Prompts us. Who is the most beautiful, who is the alternate views of what it means to be most desirable, who is the most worthy attractive and what a mirror held up to Román Anaya Mary Grace Bernard 1. Take a mirror self-portrait where your of love? our selves—in this case, the camera as Paula Gillen Genevieve Waller face is obscured. our mirror—can disclose and proclaim. Mirror Mirror toys with these hierarchies We hope you enjoy these powerful Stacy J. Platt 2. Use a mirror (a hand mirror, house through challenging representations of visions of a more inclusive beauty Gabby Recny mirror, make-up mirror, dental mirror, or the self and identity in collage, film, and and varied forms of gender, race, and Emily Van Loan whatever you have on hand) to capture photography. The title refers to the well- subjectivity representations. an image of a beloved object or item known query of the evil stepmother in Lauren Winges that speaks to your identity. the Snow White fairy tale. But the full phrase “Mirror mirror on the wall, who 3. Use a reflection in a window to capture is the fairest one of all?,” is steeped Thank you to everyone Programming Purpose a portrait of yourself in your ideal setting, in racial and gender politics. For us, who submitted photographs or in a setting where you are completely the word “fair” implies the superiority With this zine we would like to further out of place. of light skin and physical beauty as a to this zine! the conversation we started with the woman’s highest achievement. With exhibition Mirror Mirror. Namely, we want 4. Use a car mirror to make a portrait of the works in this exhibition, we aim to - Mary Grace Bernard to posit: how can the camera become your hands, feet, legs, or arms. counter and open up a dialogue about and Genevieve Waller a mirror that challenges gendered these embedded values. and racialized standards of beauty? 5. Take a mirror portrait that is a critique We created this platform where artists, of “who’s the fairest of them all?” and Through confronting the viewer with non-artists, and really anyone with a normative beauty standards. idealized masculine and non-binary camera had the opportunity contribute beauty, featuring people of color as mirror portraits with a twist. We asked all superstars, bending gender norms of contributors to use one or more of the self-presentation, revealing the artifice following prompts. of feminine perfection, exploring inner 3 4

Drew Austin

Kate Kirchner Boetcher 5 6

Kiah Butcher

James Elliot 7 8

Brian Fouhy

Michael Espinoza 9 10

Paula Gillen

Risa Friedman 11 12

Savannah Hardin

Wes Leffingwell 13 14

Lydia Mertink

DanVy Ngo 15 16

Arielle Myers Alex Sweetman 17 18

The exhibition Mirror Mirror and its programming are made possible by our genorous sponor, the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Emily Zeek

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DIGITAL ZINE DIGITAL