GROWTH
“In nature there is no wrong, no shame. A plant doesn’t ask if it can grow. It doesn’t ask where or how.
We grow. Unapologetically.”
GROWTH is a photo project that aims to empower womanhood, dismantle body shaming and take inspiration from our natural habitats for non-judgmental existence. This collection so far brings together certain bodies of humans and the nature of the North Sealand coast.
GROWTH is a project with multiple intentions, that combines visual presentation, storytelling through body awareness, body politics, movement and choreography. In the photos I match bodyparts that people once were ashamed of, bullied for or are just „different”, with elements in nature that resemble that bodypart. It aims to empower the participants and promote acceptance. It also aims to rebalance our relation to nature, to see it's body as a part of our own by drawing parallels between the two and to learn from it to grow, unapologetically. By visually zooming in we might be able to detach from what we are identified as and bring forth our interconnected nature.
The project unfolds a multitude of stories from people identifying as women; individual stories that reflect societal mechanisms, building on Plato’s idea of the parallelism between the two. The photographs bring awareness to some biases, assumptions of body image, on the influence of our cultures, upbringing, education and the media on what we find acceptable and question the expectations of beauty and – in this case - the representation of caucasian bodies.
The process we went through has transformative potential; a change in perception of bodies, our own and others.It’s an artistic way for collective growth to happen.
This collection is the first process exhibition for GROWTH. It celebrates the distinctive characteristics of these female bodies with their living stories and authentic diversity.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/115284445/Growth-by-Agnes-Grlinger
Concept and photos: Ágnes Grélinger
Collaborators: Dalma Dóra Nagy, Shosha Raymond, Malene Heidemann, Kari Vig Petersen
Project assistant: Dalma Dóra Nagy
Supported by: Godsbanen Århus, Tårnby Park Studio and Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen, Denmark
Special thanks to: Jon Hoff and family, Ry Højskole, Søren Bresling, Morten Kaae, Lara Ostan Vejrup