I enjoy working in a surrealistic style, combining the fantastical with the familiar, and sharing narratives and dreamy landscapes from my imagination. I am interested in expressing the moment when our perception of reality ends and daydreaming begins. My intention is to inspire the viewer with a sense of wonder and possibility as my work revolves around dreams and imaginative worlds and explores the human figure in relation to space and narrative. My vision is to imbue my work with feelings of escapism as well as symbolic visuals, making connections between lighter imaginative stories and deeper real-world meanings. Influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite era, I often enjoy subverting expectations of the era’s style by combining jarring or provocative surreal imagery with feminist commentary. With my work, I seek to express a breaking out into feminine power as well as a continued reclamation of strength, voice, and autonomy, celebrating the power and imagination of her.
Stephanie Oplinger
With my latest body of completed work, I seek to explore and comment on society’s criticism and unrealistic standards of the female body, its damage to the female psyche, and the resulting commodification of the female body. Often influenced by the style of the Pre-Raphaelite era, I enjoy subverting expectations of the era’s style by combining jarring or provocative surreal imagery with feminist commentary.
With my work, I seek to express a breaking out into feminine power as well as a continued reclamation of strength, voice, and autonomy. My Unzipped Triptych, comprised of three pieces titled “Hear No Evil,” “Speak No Evil,” and “See No Evil,” touches upon the strains of gender roles and moral expectations placed on women by society while also celebrating the power and imagination of her individuality. Expanding into soft body sculptures medium, “Beauty Fetish” and “Hijacked Beauty” demonstrate female self-objectification as taught to her through media and the commodification of female body shame through cosmetic surgery.
I have titled the larger collection that these artworks fall within Evolving Bodies. I hope to encourage women to view their bodies as unique and natural, but also to feel the confidence that their identities are more than just what society has to say about their bodies. “Her Body Never Dies” Triptych is to remind that the evolution of female bodies and psyches throughout our lives is beautiful, never-ending, and full of life and potential.