Synkroniciti is thrilled to welcome back polymath Denise Bossarte of Houston, Texas, with a series of photographs exploring the realm of self and body image. Denise does this in thought-provokingly abstract ways, permitting us to see things in new light. In Too Many Eyes on Me, the most concrete of the images, a worn dresser’s mannequin stands in a shop or studio, paint peeling from her back, her hair tousled, bright red lipstick smudged, while the face of Jimmy Stewart looks on aghast from a promotional poster, exemplifying the male gaze. Women, much more than men, are judged on our appearance and often dismissed for being haggard, old or too sexy. This mannequin is all three. What Lies Beneath is quite abstract. We seem to be looking into a window. Dark peeling plastic (perhaps a tattered anti-glare coating) evokes torn fabric, while a light pink something vaguely evokes rounded flesh. A reflection in the window seems ominous. This artistic dissociation is a way to process feelings that are uncomfortable without wading too deep into trauma. Haunting Myself with Memories of You features a shadowy, blurred group of dresser’s mannequins, headless. They seem to be in a conversation, or at least in solidarity. Again, there is more here than the tongue wants to speak about. Finally, Transmutation 1 takes us away from allusions to the human body and meditates on perfection and appearance using the number 8. This number looks like infinity turned vertical and has connotations of regeneration and completion of a cycle. In this image, 8 has been spray-painted on a metal surface that has rusted, obscuring part of the number. And yet it is this rust, this imperfection that draws and delights our eye. You may meditate on the meaning of this one for days.
View Denise’s poignant and expressive photo series in Synkroniciti’s “Recovery” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Denise Bossarte is an award-winning author, poet, photographer, and visual artist whose passion is inspiring others. Her photography is in the Buddhist Contemplative Photography tradition, Miksang. She has been a practitioner of Miksang photography for 15 years and a Miksang teacher for over 12 years.
She enjoys writing, exploring new art forms, and teaching contemplative photography workshops. She lives in Texas with her husband and literary cat, Za’ Ji.