Meghan Eilleen Borah
With subject matter inspired by urban fashionistas I see on the
street, personal beauty regimens, time spent walking alone in
high heels, 1960s girl groups, and disco culture, my work is a
continued exploration of the female figure in context. At its core
is an ongoing interest in the relationship between theater and
everyday life: the feeling of constantly being on stage. My work
celebrates the power that comes with crafting variable feminine
facades, yet acknowledges the inherent vulnerability of seeking
unattainable states of permanence and perfection.
My current body of work juxtaposes traditional modes of painting
with sculptural paintings to illustrate a dissonance between
performer and spectator, specifically through the phenomenon
of the musical diva. I focus on musical divas who achieved
fame before the age of the Internet made celebrity status more
widely attainable but far more ephemeral. The conflict between
the dissolution of conviction in a diva’s performance and my
desire to retain the icon’s divinity is a driving aspect of the work.