Michelle Littauer Gavrielov
“Mr.Ms.Mystery ”
Israel
The
reason I chose Stav Starshko is because of the choice she made to be who she
is.Stav
was born a boy but always felt like a girl.During
her adolescence she began a sex-change process. All the while, she was
modelling and gaining a substantial following on Instagram. She went on to
appear on "Big Brother Israel" which made her a household name and
placed her in the public eye. She is now an accomplished actress in Israel as
well as a well-known fashion model in Europe.
I
chose to wrap Stav in a veil to emphasize the idea of visual illusion.
Originally, the veil is intended to protect a woman from the male gaze, but
also to humble and belittle her while blurring her figure and sexuality. Here,
it is used to empower and reveal, to expose what is usually hidden. Dotted with
multi-hued stitching echoing the happy, optimistic rainbow colors of gay pride,
the work is double sided, conveying to the viewer that one can never really
know what is behind the veil.