Initially focusing on representations of the idealized female form, my work has examined the dynamic between flawed and flawless bodies rendered through a hyperrealistic and uncanny approach.  Using digital/analog photography and 3D computer generated imagery, I engage with these mediums as a way to confront cultural and societal ideals of beauty. More recently, my research looks into a feminist discourse of technology and the posthuman body.  My interest in these theories raises questions of boundaries between real bodies and data bodies, and utilizes the figurative cyborg as a way of revealing perspectives that are multiple and flexible.  Placing the body at the centre of these concepts, I approach my work through a critical and speculative lens that aims to break down traditional Western thought.  Currently working with a process of photomontage, I aim to blur the boundaries between human – animal – organism – machine. Using a fragmented and complex approach, I combine photographs with computer-generated imagery to create hybrid forms.  Questions that continue to emerge from my research and work revolve around human subjectivity, and ask how changing technologies impact how we think about ourselves and our bodies in a contemporary digital age.

During the Luminous Bodies residency, I will explore the idea of Phantasmagoria through the creation of a site-specific installation.  A historical form of entertainment, this horror theatre of projected images confronted the audience through fear of the unknown.  With the use of puppets, light, and shadow, my phantasmagoria will reveal a merging of shadows cast by our own bodies and the puppets as we move through the space.  The defining line between bodies will become blurred; sparking a curiosity with our shadows that otherwise has been known to represent the darker side of the human self.  Hidden fears, conflicts, and the unknown will become part of a larger narrative that exposes a heterogeneous perspective towards bodies of all shapes, sizes, and identities.  I aim to create this environment during the residency to spark conversations about what it means to be Othered and to experience through shadows, the diverse bodily perspectives of those amongst us.

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Katarina Marinic grew up in the suburbs of Toronto and completed her BFA with a major in photography at Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD University) in 2017. Previous to this she earned a Diploma in Applied Photography from Sheridan College in 2005, and worked for many years as a commercial photo retoucher in Toronto.  She is the recipient of the 2016 Starfish Student Awards at NSCAD University, and was recently part of the group exhibition Life & Limbat OMAH in Orillia, Ontario.  Katarina is currently studying towards an MFA at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.