Orlan was a bit of a nutcase. She loved the female body and learning the limitations of what she could alter on her own face. She performed plastic surgeries live to be taped and photographed. She wore awkward bright color clothing when she was being operated on. The surgeons themselves also wore ridiculous attire during this process. It was an act. She expiremented with black and white self portrait photography. She was the model for 80 percent of her work. She optimized on transformation of the human body and digital face modification. What if you could be someone not yourself? She implanted bumps on the sides of her forehead to create the look of horns. She wears bright colors and is a strong feminist .
In one piece she held in front of her a image of a naked body that covered her torso. Her head was held over the top. To the wood, someone could insert a coin and receive a kiss. The coin would drop down a pathway into a holder at the bottom of her torso.
She was bold, influential and downright out of her mind. Also, without a fear of needles or pain, clearly because she performed every surgery fully awake.
One of the most shocking images from Orlan's website is in her plastic surgery triptych series. In this series three images are placed next to each other horizontally in which the two images on the right and left are the same rectangle size and there is a photo in the center, with a smaller width but a different image. On the duplicated photo is an image of her face looking to the right, laying on her back holding a devils staff. The staff she is holding cuts through a sculpture of a human skull. The photos are in color with four mini, white, outlined square boxes in each corner. The central photo is black and white. It looks to be a glamour shot of her face in bandages after the completion of a plastic surgery. The photo has an odd subject matter and is shocking because it is not the most pleasant thing to look at. It has a dark tone and the amber and red coloring give the photo an uncomfortable feeling. Also, it is important to note the face in each different photograph is highly over exposed
In this piece Orlan is dressed like a Biblical "Mary" from the Bible. Now, I don't know anything really about the Bible- so chances are it's not really Marry that she looks like. I could just be making that up, however, Orlan is dressed in long colored fabrics with a head piece and cape that remind me of something I would see in a children's Bible story class. Except there is nothing Biblical about this photo. She is clearly standing on a thick metal pole used for holding up a car in the center of a garage. How classy? In fact, she is even more out of place because her dress style makes me think she needs to be in a marble atrium or something. Anyway, she is standing in a pedestal in the center of a garage. A dirty place meant for holding the outdoor machines like lawn mowers and garden tools. It's also a very cold place at night. This is an interesting piece because she is suspended in the air above the concrete floor like she is a goddess. There is also smoke coming up from ... whatever that pole is, which makes it odd like she is some sort of genie.
