MADA Now

22–30 November 2019
Mon-Fri: 10am – 5pm
Saturday: 12–5pm

Monash University
Art Design & Architecture
900 Dandenong Road
Caulfield East, Victoria

mada@monash.edu
monash.edu/mada

Tzigane Firth

I am an artist with a background in traditional art making, specifically illustration. The images I have created are self-portraits disguised as film posters, inspired by the visual style of retro horror and Italian giallo films (a favoured subgenre of giallo being thriller-horror). The aspects of horror cinema that inspire me most are the bold visuals as well as the political and social undertones, I see this format as an easily-digestible medium for women to tell their stories.

For this project I have made the choice to deviate from my roots in illustration, and to create these images using photography and practical makeup effects while incorporating hand-drawn text as I wanted the images to be reminiscent of both DIY collage and vintage advertisements. Garish colour overlays are used to exaggerate, to remind the viewer of B movie advertisements and DIY collage.

By creating these images, I am telling a story of personal experience as well as inviting other people to see themselves reflected in these images. Each image attempts to explore a specific issue that I have faced at one point or another, each relating to control, mental illness and womanhood.

www.instagram.com/ziggyfilth

ziggyfirth95@gmail.com

Tzigane Firth, Dermatillomania!

Dermatillomania! tells the story of experiencing the complete loss of control over your life and the unhealthy coping mechanisms you can adopt. The title refers to the disorder of skin picking.

Tzigane Firth, Fed Up

Fed Up is visually inspired by films about demonic possession, and thematically inspired by my own struggles dealing with various institutions and bureaucratic systems and the condescension I’ve gotten for being fat, poor and mentally ill.

Tzigane Firth, Scatterbrained

Scatterbrained is a visual representation of my struggles living as an adult with Inattentive ADHD and facing the stigma and negative stereotypes, while trying to be successful in life. I have now realised that a part of my ‘disorder’ is that I hyperfocus on things that I find interesting (horror films with their cheap thrills and shocking content).