Begging. Photograph - Limited Edition of 5

Artist Statement: We are the paradox of our time: we chain-smoke while hoping to achieve the coveted "Healthy Lifestyle" with a few smoothies. We long for immediate, absolute control over our physical appearance—to blow-dry the fat off our bodies as if it were butter melting in the blazing sun. At the same time, we succumb to the lure of "cheap thrills," consuming high-calorie guilty pleasures as if there were no tomorrow. The longing for happiness leads us to cleanse rock crystals under running water and gaze up at the stars. Conceptual Approach The visual exploration of these contradictory desires—the striving for purity versus the lustful embrace of the guilty pleasure—is the starting point for my staged compositions. Carefully arranged promises, glossy productions, and perfectly composed stimuli form the visual raw material. I deliberately exaggerate these image worlds, which generate desires and suggest ideals, to make their construction and thus their manipulative nature visible. In my conceptual photographic practice, I investigate how food shapes our ideas of identity, body, and happiness. Food functions as a cultural marker—a symbol of belonging, control, or longed-for beauty. I am interested in how food becomes a promise, a mirror of our aspirations and contradictions. Animals such as rabbits, cats, or mice serve as proxies, transferring these ideals onto symbolic bodies. To amplify this theme, the compositions adopt the aesthetic language of the 1970s and 80s. I use this retro perspective as a means to reflect on contemporary roles and self-staging. Autonomy and Process This process is a thoroughly autonomous and holistic approach that I have pursued for the past five years: from art direction and styling to photography and final image editing, I realize every phase myself. This controlled self-staging of the creation process is a conceptual echo of the very perfection I critically examine in my works. I was born in Geneva in 1982 and have a master's degree in business administration. I am self-taught in photography and high-quality image retouching. Tina is represented by Visualeyes Artists and is a member of the Art Directors Club (ADC) Switzerland.