The Hispanic Project (25) 1998

Nikki S. Lee made this photograph as part of her Hispanic Project, sometime in the late nineties, using film. Looking at the directness of this image I’m reminded of Nan Goldin, but with a twist. The artist herself is the model, but she's not exactly playing herself. She's embodying a character, becoming someone else through makeup, hair, and clothing. Look at the texture of her skin, the way the light hits her cheek, the flatness of the photograph. It feels so real, so un-staged. But it’s a performance. I love the way she uses her own body as a canvas, a site for experimentation. It's like she's asking us, what does it mean to “look” Hispanic? What are the signifiers, the codes, the gestures that mark someone as belonging to a particular group? The tattoo on her chest, the gold nameplate necklace, the dark lipstick, the tan, the earrings, and the bikini. The picture operates as a kind of mirror, reflecting our own assumptions and stereotypes back at us. It leaves you wondering about the nature of identity itself, and how fluid and performative it can be.