The painter subverting the male gaze with exaggerated female forms

From Botticelli’s Venus to Kim Kardashian’s Paper magazine cover via Picasso’s modernist nudes, the fascination with the aesthetic of the female form is an artistic trope unto itself. Corporeal representations in art present a crux between the self and the socio-cultural world in which we exist. If we are but physical bodies, then it is these bodies that sculpt the world we live in, and are consequently sculpted by its limitations.

One artist that offers a contemporary and unapologetically feminist depiction of the human form is London-based artist, 31-year old Cristina BanBan. With her large-scale portraits, she re-imagines the sculptural feminine at once challenging the male gaze and offering an empowering anecdote about contemporary womanhood.

After having studied Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, and subsequently completing residencies and holding solo exhibitions in New York and London, the artist completed a residency with 68projects last October. It was during this time that she created some of the works now on display at the Berlin gallery, for her recently-opened solo show I’ve got nothing to lose. This title defines not only the empowering subject matter of BanBan’s works, but also her own personal view on her role as an artist. When we meet at the exhibition’s opening, BanBan intimates that the title is an expression of her relationship to her own work. “In the end, I am by myself. I made all of this and I have nothing to lose. Just keep going and keep doing and feel free.”

Connection to setting is something of a preoccupation for BanBan, and informs both the mood and subject matter of her works. One work that is particularly bound to the setting of the German capital is “At the studio”, which shows a woman lounging in an art studio, wearing a pair of crocs that are painted so large they almost claim their own autonomy. The woman looks towards the viewer with a soft but commanding expression, inconspicuously pulling away the cup of her bra with equally over-sized fingers to reveal her nipple. Though BanBan is quick to note that the work is not a literal self-portrait, the setting itself replicates the Charlottenburg studio in which the artist worked during her residency.

While the collection of works on display may have been created across different locations and at different times, there are clear thematic and visual symbols that characterise the artist’s style. Featuring a soft, pastel colour palette and bubbling figures that are somewhat reminiscent of Botero’s nudes and fill large canvases with their hyper-enlarged appendages and serene expressions, the works are at once soothing and demanding of the viewer’s attention. BanBan’s portraits are honest, tender and incorporate her own reflections on life as a woman. “My work comes from within and is always based on my own experiences,”  BanBan says of her series of semi-autobiographical self-portraits and depictions of embracing figures.

The study of the human form is a common thread that runs throughout BanBan’s works and is rooted in her interest in the vibrancy and dynamism of the human experience as well as her classical training. “My background was quite traditional. I did a lot of life drawing, a lot of anatomy and a lot of portraiture,” she says. “I think I have quite a traditional base and from that I’m kind of exaggerating the forms, but it’s happening in an organic way.”

A particular appreciation for the female form is projected most visibly through the repetition of softly rounded forms that characterise BanBan’s works, and highlights a very raw connection to her own experience and to those of the women that have played a role in her life. “[My work] is mainly about women’s experiences, because I’m a woman. That doesn’t mean that my work is auto-biographical, but my personal experience has a big impact,” BanBan told us. “In this show, it’s kind of sensual and erotic. [The pieces] talk about relationships and how the woman is feeling inside that relationship.”

But the use of nudity in BanBan’s work is far from shocking, rather incorporates it in an unassuming way that serves to highlight the sensuality of the unfiltered female form. In one piece, entitled “Melting away”, a naked woman lies in a sprawling, comfortable pose and is held by her lover, who leans his head on her shoulder as she looks at the viewer. Pinks and creams and browns add to the softness of the work, which places the woman directly at the forefront of this intimate encounter and in control of her own image.

There is something familiar and inviting about BanBan’s works. Their beauty lies in an unashamed portrayal of the real emotions in our everyday relationships. The young painter states that her inspiration comes not from other artists or material aesthetics, but “by life, and meeting people.” The figures immortalised on canvas are life-size for a reason. They are the artist, they are the viewer, and they are an authentic re-telling of the female experience.

I’ve got nothing to lose is opening now until 22nd June 2019 at 68projects, Fasanenstraße 68, 10719 Berlin.