Cindy Baker (CA): Personal appearance
A custom-built professional mascot costume of herself allows Cindy Baker to travel the world making personal appearances, as herself. Personal Appearance engages the notion of ‘fat geography’ addressing the lived reality of taboo bodies in spaces made for the ‘socio-normative’ body. Baker’s appearance as a cuddly cartoon character functions to erase social barriers, it creates emotional bonds while encouraging physical contact and play. It facilitates the artist’s ongoing goal of challenging and changing public space and the way it is used, simply by moving through it in a different, but acceptable, body.
Cindy Baker will be appearing as Cindy Baker throughout the festival, perhaps you’ll be lucky enough to meet her!
Cindy Baker (CA)
“Despite a formal education in painting and printmaking, I consider my non-formal training and research in gender culture, queer theory, fat activism and art theory to be as important in my development as a contemporary artist. Working with whatever materials, people or actions are needed to allow me to concentrate on the concepts behind my work, I consider context to be my primary medium. Though I fashion my work to be visually seductive, there is always a complex series of questions buried within. I believe that once an audience has opened themselves up to an artwork through its humour, comfort, or familiarity, they are more likely to invest in the challenges such work presents.”