Chiara Mazzocchi is an Italian artist photographer, director and performer whose work deals primarily with reflections of the self. Through images and short videos, she uses her body to challenge and reflect upon different aspects of her own life. Using her SLR camera in manual mode, Mazzocchi creates work that while self-reflective, also provides an opportunity for contemplation.
Mazzocchi sees the state of humanity as being trapped in the idea of ‘society’, something that she laments given her strong interest in focussing on aspects of individualism. Frustrated by societal roles that she finds most people unconsciously slip into, her work serves as a method of endless subversion of these expectations.
“My “Art” deals with social and humanistic themes involving the individual as the human consciousness, the precariousness of existence, but also the daily fatigue supported by the human being to integrate into a society that requires approval from established norms,” she explained in an interview with Art Connect. “The political and social system they want us to live in, is wearing us out to the point of de-personalization and annihilation: we’re left in a state of unconsciousness.”
With a body of work that features numerous beautiful and haunting self-portraits, Mazzocchi refers to her shots as ‘listenings’, which she interprets as meaning projections, visions and vibrations guided by the right side of the brain.
Unable to see herself while taking the shot, neither while shooting herself, her methods represent a form of self-therapy. Mazzocchi finds that this process allows her to connect to her own consciousness – or ‘interior image’ as she phrases it: eliminating expectations and breaking traditional photographic rules.
