Complexions / Reflections: Cosmetics, Adornment, Disfiguration

Centre for Art History and Art Theory, ANU

A Visual Medical Humanities conference hosted by the Centre for Art History and Art Theory and the HRC at the Australian National University

Sir Roland Wilson Building

The ANU Centre for Art History and Art Theory, ANU School of Art and Design, in partnership with the ANU Humanities Research Centre, present<h1>Complexions / Reflections: Cosmetics, Adornment, Disfiguration</h1><h3></h3><h3>Monday 3 April - Tuesday 4 April 2023</h3>Looking in a mirror is never a neutral act. This conference offers an opportunity to reflect on changing ideals of beauty through an examination of a range of visual, material, and medical representations of the manipulated human body. It will seek to debunk the myth that beauty is ‘natural’ by engaging with the many and varied attempts that have been made to change, augment, alter and transform the body. These manipulations range from the application of cosmetics to undergoing surgical procedures, from fantasies of corporeal boundlessness through to real, lived experiences of physical and psychological transformation. Topics for examination include: gendered and racialised ideals of beauty across cultures; face bleaching and other skin lightening cosmetics; queer identities, gender fluidity and gender modification; dressing up and performativity through jewellery; war; disability; dismemberment and mutilation; death and the body undone.<h3>Speakers</h3>Professor Susan Sidlauskas (Rutgers)Dr Erin Griffey (University of Auckland)Dr Karin Selberg (UQ)Dr Natasha Ruiz-Gómez (University of Essex)Dr Tania Cleaves (née Woloshyn) (University of Warwick / University of Birmingham)Dr Keren Hammerschlag (ANU)Professor Anthea Callen (University of Nottingham and ANU)Dr Michelle J. Smith (Monash University)Dr Megan Rose (UNSW)Ashley E. Remer (ANU)<h3>L﻿ocation</h3>Australian National University1.02 Conference RoomSir Roland Wilson BuildingT﻿he Zoom link for online attendance is emailed with the ticket following registrationFor enquiries please contact Dr Keren Hammerschlag keren.hammerschlag@anu.edu.au

<h2></h2><h2>Program</h2><h2>Monday 3 April 9﻿:30 am - 4:30pm</h2>9:30-10:00am Tea and Welcome10:00 - 10:30am Degas: flesh, ‘slap’ and touch (online) Anthea Callen (Nottingham and ANU)10:30 - 11:00am Variations in Flesh Colour: Whistler and Race Keren Hammerschlag (ANU)11:00 -11:30pm The Disfiguration of Helen Harrison by John Singer Sargent Susan Sidlauskas (Rutgers)11:30 -12:00pm Discussion 12:00 - 1:30pm Lunch1:00 - 1:30pm Facing Decay: Anti-aging beauty treatments in early modern Europe Erin Griffey (University of Auckland)1:30 - 2:00pm Visions of Womanhood: Makeup and Gender Performance in 1970’s Scandinavian Transvestite Communities Karin Sellberg (University of Queensland)2:00 -2:30pm Discussion 2:30 -3:00pm Afternoon Tea3:00 - 3:30pm Monstrous: Paul Richer’s La Femme, Anthropology and Race Natasha Ruiz-Gómez (University of Essex)3:30 - 4:00pm Seen by the Camera: Nudes of All Nations (1936) Tania Cleaves (née Woloshyn) (Universities of Warwick and Birmingham)4.00 - 4.30pm Discussion <h2>Program </h2><h2>Tuesday 4 April 9﻿:15am - 12:30pm </h2><h2></h2>9:15 - 9:30am The ‘Unlovely Damsel’: John Singer Sargent’s Portrait of Elsie Palmer (1891) Susan Sidlauskas (Rutgers)9:30 - 9:45am Beauty and Victorian Girlhood Michelle J. Smith (Monash)9:45 - 10:00am Out of Reach: C.20th Photographs of Child Nudists Tania Cleaves (née Woloshyn) (Universities of Warwick and Birmingham)10:00 - 10:15am Kawaii new materialism and beauty work in Harajuku Megan Rose (UNSW)10:15 -10:45am Discussion10:45 -11:15am Morning Tea11:15- 12:15pm Hidden in Plain Sight: Representing Girls in Art History and Public Art Museums Ashley E. Remer (ANU)12:15 -12:30pm Discussion and Concluding Remarks

Image: James Morris, stretching the skin on his face. Photograph. Wellcome Collection, London.

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Complexions / Reflections: Cosmetics, Adornment, Disfiguration

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Complexions / Reflections: Cosmetics, Adornment, Disfiguration

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