Playing at Pagan’s House (working title)
A Review of Chaltin Pagan’s Off With Her Head (draft)
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Just under a year ago I found myself completely encircled by Barbies for the first time since ascending past my single digits. Well, paintings of Barbies to be exact. It was the unveiling of the university's MFA exhibition (class of 2012); Chaltin Pagan's collection of moderately sized paintings inhabited Hamilton Hall’s spacious foyer (home to University of the Arts' Hamilton Gallery). This space is sizeable; capable of dwarfing almost anything. Pagan's unassuming little rectangles did not cave to the cavern, however. While the room may have appeared sparse at first glance, the wide berth provided each composition was both purposeful and necessary. This sort of spacing provided an opportunity for the sort of intimacy from which Pagan's work greatly benefits.
It was Untitled Green and Blue that first drew me in. The panel had been on a section of wall to left of a doorway silently challenging passersby to pause for just one moment. A moment was all it took to reel in this unsuspecting viewer. Eyes slid left as the feet attempted to stay the course, moving with determination towards some unremembered location. A soft glow appeared to radiate from this understated little rectangle and feet were forced to pause to allow for deeper ocular investigation. Closer inspection revealed three Barbie heads lying with hair fanned out upon a blue and green background, two separate fields of color meeting in a diagonal slash. The heads are clustered at the center of the composition; a brunette Barbie head with brown eyes and a light brownish tan complexion is placed in the upper left corner of the grouping (her neck bulb is exposed). To her right, a Ginger-Barbie lays with chin angled out towards the right side of the frame. Who should stare out at us from the center of said cluster (and composition) but that prototypical blue-eyed wonder. Cozily nestled between brunette and redhead, her definitive blonde locks curl out in soft waves and ringlets--those sapphire eyes pierce us with their assurance. Her smiling mouth seems to pull upwards ever so slightly at the left corner. The diagonal fields of green and blue meet at very middle of her golden noggin.
There is a calm confidence to this expression, which provides an excellent juxtaposition to our pensive little brunette (BB). BB's eyes tilt up towards the right corner of the composition, her full lips unsmiling. Where Traditional Barbie (TB) appears untroubled, BB seems wistful. Her mouth is slack and there is something about the eyes and the placement of the eyebrows that support this air of melancholic dubiety. The positioning of the head also serves to distort BB's expression. One can only assume the smooth, blemish-less sources from which Pagan drew were nothing but blue skies, puppy dogs in purses, and shopping. These tiny, vinyl features have most likely been manipulated. While the flared ginger locks of our Redheaded Barbie (RB) provide a vibrant compliment to the deep azure background on which they lay, the true drama of Untitled Green and Blue lies in the exchange between TB and BB. Our redhead's face is mostly covered by thick bangs and is angled in such a way that we are given an abbreviated glimpse of her expression. What we can see of her face is not particularly telling. Her lips are ever so slightly pursed (though smiling) and just one of her eyes is visible. It feels as though RB is off in her own world, a land to which we are not given access.
Perhaps the source of TB's confident appearance stems from a sense of her own superiority as prime, the dominant female amongst her plastic counterparts. Back in my doll playing days, there was Barbie and there were Barbies. Barbie was blue eyed and blonde haired. While there were different versions of Barbie, gussied up in a variety of themed outfits and professional guises; there was but one Barbie. Brunette Barbies, redhaired Barbies, racially diverse Barbies: these dolls came with separate names and identities (Midge was my personal favorite). While Midge was and is a Barbie, she is not and could never be Barbie. In this way, I'd argue a system of superiority was inadvertently created. Midge would always be the slightly less important, possibly less attractive counterpart to Barbie. Midge's very existence is contingent on Barbie. These friends and relatives all play a collective miniature second fiddle to the toy line's namesake. I would argue this Toyland dynamic has the capacity to reverberate out into the land beyond dolls. Don't make me quote from The Bluest Eye, people. While TB's blonde dome rests in a state of ease and security, the status of her slightly darker counterpart seems somewhat more precarious. Ghetto-large heart shaped earrings further accentuate BB and TB's differences, vaguely hinting at issues of class and ethnicity. As a result BB finds herself that much farther from the sole plastic power source in this particular Mattel-o-verse: Barbie. In this world differentiation and individuality is not empowering for all is subsumed by Barbie.
Where Untitled Green and Blue set me thinking on social hierarchy in the Barbie-verse and beyond, Off With Her Head has a far more sinister tone, conjuring thoughts of murder and betrayal. Two nude TB’s stand in profile, the figure on the left (TBL) faces the right side of the frame in full while the rightmost figure (TBR)’s face angles slightly out toward the viewer. TBL’s left arm is extended out towards TBR. Composed of two separate panels hung flush, this slender plastic appendage makes the journey from left panel to right. The composition is dramatically lit; each figure throws a stark umber shadow upon a richly hued background (the burnt sienna surface all but glows). Lighting, placement, and title all work to fashion the beginnings of a story; one of peril and pursuit. It feels as though TBL approaches her unsuspecting twin with the darkest of intentions. Is a bloodless decapitation on the horizon as the title would suggest? Though each figure is relegated to a separate panel, TBL has bridged the gap. Her arm reaches to TBR for some unknown purpose, she appears to be closing in. The figures’ faces hold the usual semi-vacant expression. They flash their familiar and unthreatening smiles, seemingly ignorant of the dim scenarios in which they’ve been engaged. It is this aspect of apparent guilelessness that unravels the murderous yarn I’d begun to weave. The scene is reset, imagined threats removed.
This juxtaposition serves to highlight Barbie’s servitude as well as her autonomy. As we assert our narrative powers upon these figures, some aspect of their countenance refuses to be consumed. In this way Pagan’s Barbies act as unique tools for our usage, both indentured and impervious. They are able to retain their identity despite their servitude, an identity subservient to branding, granted. Her subjects are bestowed with a certain level of respect by way of technique and execution. This process [egg tempera] involves great care and concentration. Each composition is composed of a collection of thin but visible brush marks combined with small areas of smooth serene spaces. The spacing and density of the mark making create a sense of breath and mobility. Though static by design, these paintings quietly hum with life. Pagan’s surfaces remain relatively smooth despite the depth of her markings. Moderate sizing and the artist’s delicate touch work to create a glowing aura of intimacy and regard. The aforementioned artist statement connects Pagan’s choice of materials to Christian icon painting. Such lofty associations have the capacity to lend weight to the lowest of subjects (and the lowest of brows). There is also a wonderful link to between the life-giving/sustaining aspect of the egg yolks utilized to depict her barren, inanimate subjects.
How do these interpretations square with the show’s intended purpose? While I’m sure at times my mental meandering may have strayed the course I believe this sort of pull towards deviation to be an intrinsic aspect of this work. What are dolls but springboards for our narratives? We approach them as three dimensional blank pages, unfurled for our usage. Pagan has focused one set of narratives upon these figures; her positioning and play set me off on my own narrative tangent in turn. If dolls can accommodate several sprawling storylines, couldn’t these egg-based surrogates possibly follow suit? While Pagan has set the stage through the usual means (composition, paint handling, etc) her reach ends there. We may be playing with her Barbies at her house but Pagan has left the room (perhaps to get us a juice box). In this space viewers may venture forth on their own imaginative excursions but they (like me) remain tethered to that which is actual and present: marks on a surface. In this way the narrative power is returned to Pagan and Barbie time and again.
