analysis of beauty

Beauty Beauty is a collection of qualities that is aesthetically pleasing to the senses and is absolutely necessary for the progression of Orlan’s artwork. Orlan is an artist who uses carnal art to realise her true beauty. Essentially, carnal art is self-portraiture in which the body itself becomes the canvas but this is not to be mistaken for body art as this art form does not consist of pain as a source of purification. Through the use of current technology, Orlan may modify her body in a controlled and artistic way to attain her true sense of beauty. For one of her works, in order to satisfy her desire for beauty, Orlan selected different features from women who were perceived as representations of ideal beauty such as the mouth of Boucher’s Europa, the nose of Diana, the eyes of Germoe’s Psyche and the forehead of DaVinci’s Monalisa. Orlan then applied these features too her own body. Once Orlan has managed to reform her body, she lives with her newfound identity that expresses her idea of beauty. By doing this, Orlan is able to gradually gain a better understanding of herself as to what she thinks is true beauty and then uses this experience to create her new self. As stated by orlan, “Carnal art transforms the body into language”. Therefore if put into perspective, this may be viewed as Orlan’s personal way of understanding her own body as well as her own self. Orlan is also able to further her understanding of her own body in the literal sense as she watches her body being crafted and cut to the point where she can see her entrails. By progressing her concept of carnal art, Orlan is able to attain a new degree of freedom with her body which allows her to express her true ideals of what true beauty is.