PORTRAIT:
RICHARD
PHIBBS.
HAIR
BY
SHALOM
SHARON
AT
BRYDGES
MACKINNEY;
MAKEUP
BY GENEVIEVE HERR AT SALLY HARLOR; MANICURE BY MICHINA KOIDE AT ART DEPARTMENTthe threshold
p-floorapart-
New York’s
myselfwon-
e many ver-
sions of Cindy Sherman I am
abouttomeet.Fromyounginge-
nuetoageingdiva,workinggirl
toboredhousewife,Renaissance
noblewoman to 21st-century
street-style star, the photogra-
pherhas inhabitedalmostevery
possiblefemalearchetypeduring
a careerthat has spanned more
than 40 years. So it comes as
somethingofa surprisewhenthe
woman whoopensthe door to
meturnsouttobepolite,softly
spoken, bare-faced and under-
stated—thepolaroppositeoftheheavilymade-up,flamboyantly
costumed,larger-than-lifecharacterssheportraysinherwork.
Sherman,whoat 65is thesubjectofa majornewretrospective
at theBritishNationalPortraitGalleryin London,hasalwaysbeen
clearabouttheperformativenatureofherimages,noneofwhich
sheseesas self-portraits.“Ireallydon’tthinkofmyselfas beingin
anyof thephotographs,”shetellsmetodayas wesitdowntogether
at thelarge,clutteredtableinthecentreofherlight-filledstudio.
Evidenceofhertheatricalityis allaroundus,visibleinthemasks,
wigs,propsandotherephemerathatarelineduponthe
bookshelvesorpiledincornersoftheroom.“Someof
thesearefromthelastbodyofworkI wasdoing,but
thereareotherthingsI’veprobablyhadupfor 20 years
orso,”shesays,gesturingtowardsthe
magazinetearsheetstackedonthewalls.
Therearevoodoo sculptures,a plastic
James Bond figure, a set of painted
busts (“I was collecting heads for a
while”) andsomecrownsshe recently
pickedupina Parisianfleamarket.“I
don’tknowwhatI’mgoingtodowith
them,” she admits. “Who knows —
maybeI’lldoa seriesofqueens...”
Clothesandobjectshaveservedasa
sourceofinspirationforShermanever
sinceshewasa littlegirlplayingwith
the dressing-up box in her family’s
LongIsland,NewYork,home.“Itwas
fun, the idea of transforming into
somebodyelsethroughmakeuporcos-
tumes,”shesays,recallingherambiva-
lent feelings towards the “girdles,
stockings, weird pointy bras and
strange accoutrements” that many
womenwerestillwearinginthe1950s
and 1960s. “When I was growing up,those things weren’t cool.
Feministsweresupposedtolook
natural — you didn’t need
makeup,youdidn’tdyeyourhair,
youdidn’tweara bra—but,for
me, dressing up was thissecret
pleasure.”Herinterestinfashion
has remained a constant in her
career, though her tastes have
evolvedalong with her senseof
self.“Asa youngerartist,I tended
to dress more anonymously
because I didn’t want to stand
out,”shereflects.“IthinkI was
partlyfeelingguiltyabout being
successful when a lot of my
friendsweren’t,butnowI’mpast
that.I lovetheatricalclothing—
sometimesI’llbuysomethingand
then realiseI’m never goingto wear it,but there’salways the
potentialtouseit forsomekindofcharacterdowntheline.”
Costumingandmakeupwerecrucialtothehaunting,cinematic
feelof thephotographsthatfirstpropelledShermanintothelime-
light.Aftergraduatingfromthevisual-artsdepartmentat Buffalo
StateCollege(where,ironically,shehadfailedoneof herfreshman
photographyclasses),shemovedtoNewYorkCityin 1977 and
beganshootingwhat wasto becomeher seminalUntitledFilm
Stills, a seriesof 70 blackandwhiteimagesinspiredbycinema,
fromtheFrenchNewWaveandtheItalianGoldenAge
totheworkofAlfredHitchcock.Eachenigmaticshot
portraysa scenefroman imaginaryfilm,itssolitary
female subjectcapturedina momentofreflectionor
transition,whether gazing out of the
window,staringat herfaceinthemir-
rororstandingat theedgeofanempty
roadhopingtohitcha ride.Developed
inhotchemicalstogivethema grainy
texturereminiscentofthestillsusedin
promotional materials, and replete
withreferencestorealmovies,thepho-
tographsaretantalisingintheirnarra-
tive potential. Yet their meaning
remainselusive,as doesSherman’sown
rolewithinthefictionsshecreates.“I
was alwayslosingmyselfin thework
and hiding behind the makeup and
underthewigs,”shesays.
Sherman’scommitmenttotheartof
artifice—ensuringthatviewersalways
seeherasanactorina fabricatedsce-
nario— drove her to create increas-
inglyeccentric,evengrotesquefigures.
“Inthebeginning,I wasalwayswor-
riedaboutpeopleassumingI wasthis
egotistical, self-obsessed person,” sheFromtop:Cindy
Sherman’sUntitled
#574, 2016;Untitled
#204,1988–1990.197 HARPERSBAZAAR.COM.AU September 2019
CULTURE