Pigment prints on cotton rag
Dimensions: 50cm x 50cm
2012
This photographic series depicts four macro images of mass-produced plastic cowboy toys, each figure isolated against a stark white background. The shallow depth of field causes the toys to blur and dissolve into the void, their surfaces appearing molten and unstable. Stripped of landscape and context, the figures evade the archetypal binaries of the Western genre; hero/villain, civilisation/wilderness, inviting viewers to project their own narratives onto them.
The uniform plastic and evident cheapness of their manufacture allude to endless duplication, mirroring the formulaic repetition of cowboys within cinematic history. By transforming inanimate childhood playthings into ambiguous portraits, Untitled (The Men With No Name) engages nostalgia while simultaneously critiquing the mythic structures of the Western, loosening its tightly scripted roles and symbolic imperatives.