Delaney Yvonne’s solo exhibition, “Good Looking,” is an examination of our constantly evolving sense of beauty and the cultural obsessions we’ve developed as a result. Combining a light touch with considerable attention to detail, Delaney approaches her work with a sense of ironic contradiction. In a world where status and appearance dictate everything we consume, Delaney’s work seeks to satirise the superficial by making it transparent. By pairing used make-up wipes with hyper-realistic portrayals of delicate, intricate lace, Delaney cheekily sends up our wistful dedication to physical beauty with a reminder of its unromantic and torturous consequences. 

While there is an ugliness to beauty, so too is there a beauty to ugliness; as such, Delaney’s work offers space to recognize the value of self-expression in identity-making throughout time. Consider the 18th century, when women wore light pastels, lace, and ribbons to signal both beauty and belonging. While one may marvel at the opulence and impact of 18th century style, it is also important to recognize the incredible discomfort that marked the trends of the era. From rib-crushing corsets to toxic make-up and comically large wigs, pain was just the price of admission when it came to signalling wealth and social connections through one’s appearance. Of course, it is not lost on Delaney how these flourishes have begun to reemerge alongside the resurgence of the hyper-feminine ‘coquettecore’ aesthetic.

As curator for this exhibition, I prepared by looking to 18th century fashion and design for inspiration. More specifically, I looked to Sofia Coppola’s iconic 2006 film, Marie Antoinette, a film drenched in opulence and excess. From Sofia’s signature visual style and ironic wit, to the anachronistic soundtrack and whimsical naivete of its titular character, Marie Antoinette offers a hyper-feminine feast for the ages, and perfect counterpart to Delaney’s work. In both, decadent symbolism is used to camouflage the painful sacrifices required to obtain it, demonstrating the absurdity of the beauty industry’s hold over all of us. 

While working on this exhibition, I was often reminded of my own art practice and its intersections with aesthetic standards. I have always been interested in learning new perspectives, in deciphering how every person interprets life just a little bit differently. A few years ago I read John Berger’s 1972 collection of essays, Ways of Seeing, for the first time. Those essays, his third in particular, fundamentally shifted how I approach my work. My fixation on the gaze and vanity, on the surveyor and the surveyed, has become central to my practice much in the way it has for Delaney’s present work. Whereas my work encourages critical reflection on the act of looking through post-internet-inspired-self-portraiture, “Good Looking,” does the same without any representational work at all. Yet the turmoil of facing the world in a femme-presenting body is ever present, despite there being no bodies in sight, as evidenced by the fleeting moments and objects that make up only the mirage of a beautiful and important person. 

In demonstrating the double-edged sword of beauty symbolism, Delaney dissects the cultural significance of these inanimate cultural ephemera by turning the focus back to the viewer and asking whether we should embrace their continued hold over us, or if it’s time to fixate on something more paramount.