Cooper & Gorfer: Altered Gaze

Cooper & Gorfer Altered Gaze builds on nearly two decades of the artists’ collaboration centering on female identity, and questions what is seen, what is assumed, and what lies in the spaces between. Their practice is a shared self-portrait, shaped by relationships with women where dualities and collective identities emerge. Continuing their towering mythological female portraits, the exhibition introduces four new unique collages where the figures continue to act as both protectors and provocateurs, guardians of inner landscapes shaped by personal histories and cultural legacies.

Collage is central to their practice, serving as both method and meaning. “Each portrait is constructed from fragments, a medley of what has been lived, loved, lost, “ Cooper & Gorfer express, “We photograph women whose lives, like our own, are shaped by the stories we grow up with and the ones we inherit. In our process, parts are exaggerated, others concealed; layers are torn apart and stitched back together. The collages mirror how we become who we are: assembled from hidden seams, exposed wounds, and the quiet architecture of our histories.” Their hybrid portraits ofwomen and immersive visual worlds carry socio-political undertones, where the fragmentation of surfaces mirrors the multiplicity of identity. The works reveal the constructed, the physical, and the emotionally resonant, inviting viewers into layered narratives that oscillate between the personal and the collective. The portraits reflect not only women, but the artists’ own vulnerabilities, fears, and desires, embracing that identity can have many sides, even conflicting ones.