Beauty / Life, 2012 - 2014

Emerging from Laura’s exploration of self-betterment, self-help, and the pursuit of self-perfection, this work spans performance, photography, and film. Drawing heavily from contemporary pop culture, it often exposes the absurd and surreal aspects of the health and beauty industries. By disrupting and recontextualizing mass beauty ideals, rituals, and procedures, it provokes questions and fosters debate around issues of the body, beauty, and the representation of gender.

This site-responsive project adapts to its context, geographical location, and physical environment, creating unique and immersive experiences.

In the Beauty / Life Taster Sessions (performance), audiences are invited into an intimate setting led by beauty and lifestyle coach Lauretta Hart and her assistants. Participants are guided on a sensory journey with tips and treatments promising to make them “happier,” “healthier,” and more “successful.” However, as the performance unfolds, the pristine doll-like beauticians begin to unravel. The body transforms into a canvas as food substances are applied, subverting conventional beauty rituals in a visceral and thought-provoking way.

This work has been performed at Laban (2012), SMASH LAB (2012), Camden People's Theatre (2013), and Belgrade National Theatre (2014).