MARTIN C DE WAAL Manipulation of photographic images lies at the heart of Martin C de Waal practice. This Amsterdam-based artist whose work crosses disciplines, working in design, fashion and the visual arts, is perhaps best known for work in which he uses his own body,d igitally and surgically altered, to construct its discourse. His work freque ntly engages in the notion of 'iden-tity' and its relationship to the way in which mass and fashion media use 'identity' as a commodity. Sexuality, gender and race- and more often the complex intersections between all of these things- features strongly in his work. Working with a combination of questionable cosmetic surgery practises and image manipulation technology, Martin C de Waal works - performances, video and photographs present us with images of something that is immediately recognisable as a person but not entirely human. At least not if we are looking for the traditional indicators of our tribe as we think we know it. Martin manipulates age, gender and ethnicity . the result is often alarming.
-text by ken Pratt
Martin C de Waal is represented by Torch Gallery, Amsterdam