In Under the Surface, oil and lipstick on canvas, Katie Tomlinson depicts a scene where a siren walks through piranha-infested waters. Instead of being attacked, the siren is hunting and...
In Under the Surface, oil and lipstick on canvas, Katie Tomlinson depicts a scene where a siren walks through piranha-infested waters. Instead of being attacked, the siren is hunting and killing the fish. The siren, symbolising both beauty and danger, becomes the predator, while the piranhas, known for their aggressivity, are depicted as passive. Rather than biting, they kiss her legs, as if they were worshipping her, subverting what is usually expected.
The artist’s use of lipstick as a medium evokes ideas of commodified femininity, referencing Kate Moss’s "lipstick kiss" auctioned for £60,000, and the unethical treatment of animals, like a beluga whale in an aquarium, whose lips were painted with lipstick for the amusement of the visitors. Tomlinson uses these motifs to critique the ways beauty and sexuality are consumed and exploited.