It's in anonymity we experience true freedom. It's in our youth we play the game. In Femcel, Amanda Wall navigates thepath between disassociation and transcendence, peeking into the gestalt of the sexless sex objects, the zeitgeist of thepost-postmodern woman. As we traverse the narrative space, we descend into rapid cycles of detachment and foreboding,enshrouded by the cherubic faces of young women scattered schizophrenically in bursts of joy and doom. A paradoxunfurls before us, as the desire to embody the archetypal "hot girl" remains elusive, even among those who appear toepitomise it. In a world overly saturated with sensuality, we have matured beyond the enchanting innocence of ouryouth, yet these physical forms retain their delicate suppleness, albeit uselessly. It is not the act of carnal indulgence thatallures them or us but their persistent yearning for validation and our guilty joy in partaking in their solipsism.Throughout Wall's oeuvre, the subject beckons the viewer to participate, all the while aware of their role as a spectacle.Our presence, though welcomed, disturbs their ephemeral refuge. Paradoxically, the viewer, too, is the ultimateobjective. The subjects loathe our departure; an impending sense of gloom hovers over these femcels. They utter softentreaties, beseeching viewers to embrace the curves of their bodies without the need for a formal introduction, aspermanence eludes this connection. They dwell within the shadows of nonexistence, their unspoken plea echoing, "Ithink I'm going to die. Do not tease me. Prove my existence." From a formal point of view, Femcel ushers in a variety ofnuances for Wall. Scale, which has often magnified her subjects, is microscopically focused on various targeted subjectsto get the shot: a selfie at the barrel end of a gun. You can hear the 'click!' 'bang!' of this clique gangbang, swirled in avortex of gestural strokes. Inserting herself into various levels of facelessness, Wall flirts with anonymity—and thesensuality of invisibility. Nothing ever mattered; it never did.
Amanda Wall is an American self-taught painter who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. A heady mix of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and 21st century existentialism, Wall's work exposes the intimate and uncanny. With a shock of lurid colors in contrast to tender flesh tones, Wall's distinctive palette touches on the nerve of vulnerability, desire and control. The subject matter, however, remains shadowy - a tension between abstraction and distorted reality, a conflict between the self and the void.
