Waldorf Series 4

Kate O’Donovan Cook’s series of four photographs is characterized by explorations of identity within a narrative framework. Clearly a student of the work of Cindy Sherman and Gregory Crewdson, O’Donovan Cook’s photographs look like stills from a movie. Upon closer inspection, however, we realize that the artist herself plays every character in the scene, like Anthony Goicolea in Warriors. By working with a timer and multiple exposures the artist represents herself in a variety of roles within a single frame, creating narratives that investigate issues of gender and the complexities of interpersonal relationships. In the Waldorf Series she plays both the male and female roles, rendering this intimate scenario even more ambiguous. (“Staged, Performed, Manipulated,” curated by Andrea Inselmann and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – June 7, 2015)