Podcasts Culture In the Studio Cecilia Paredes: Camouflage artist

Cecilia Paredes: Camouflage artist

Published: Dec. 3, 2019, 1 a.m.

You might think the aim of most artists and performers is to stand out from the crowd, but not Peruvian-born Cecilia Paredes. Her aim is to blend in, quite literally.

In her series of \u2018camouflage\u2019 self-portraits, Cecilia\u2019s body is painstakingly painted - during a \u2018performance\u2019 which lasts many hours - to precisely match a colourful and patterned wallpaper or fabric in the background.

The resulting photograph challenges the viewer gaze, to seek out Cecilia\u2019s form from the scene behind. It is an idea which began 20 years ago, when Cecilia first arrived in the United States and found herself trying to blend in.

C\xe9line Ottenburgh finds the camouflage artist amongst a crowded airport, and accompanies her as she goes in search of the perfect wallpaper for her latest project, amongst the walls of an 18th century castle in Belgium.