La Belle Fleur Sauvage
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work has spanned a variety of mediums, including photography, video, collage, installation, and performance. Generally, I work with themes that relate to the experiences of women and the fragmentation of the female body. I also make work about interactions between men and women, and how these interactions play out in building relationships and understanding, as well as work that responds to the current political and cultural climate. I examine the objectification of the female body, reproductive rights, sexual assault, and continuous attacks on a woman’s right to be autonomous. In this exploration, I find that, as much as things change, they still stay very much the same.
When creating the series “La Belle Fleur Sauvage,” I wanted to show an unconventional body that is not always seen in photographic art. I wanted this body to exist… Doing everyday things that are non-monumental. In the work, I hope that the viewer reflects on their own reactions to each image and questions how they truly feel when looking at a person comfortable in a body that is not conventional.
Dafna Steinberg is a native of Washington, DC. A graduate of Hampshire College, the International Center of Photography, and Goldsmiths, University of London, she has exhibited in and curated challenging thematic shows in America and abroad. Ms. Steinberg has been an artist-in-residence at Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), Sou’wester Lodge (Seaview, WA), and Starry Night Retreat (Truth or Consequences, NM). She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including shows at LA Artcore (Los Angeles), Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis), Ford Gallery (Portland), Arc Gallery & Studios (San Francisco), Flashpoint Gallery (DC), the Katzen Arts Center (DC), The LunchBox Gallery (Miami), Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (DC), and the International Center of Photography School (NYC). She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College.
