About the Artist

Noel Curtis was born in Hollister and raised in San Jose, California. Since they were young they pursued the arts. They are working as a multimedia artist who blends physical and digital elements together. Noel is interested in pixel art and how it relates to needleworking, specifically crochet. Using the crafting skill they learned from their grandmother in this new digital age. Turning each pixel into a physical stitch in a tapestry. Noel has received a certificate from Silicon Valley Career Technical Education in Animation. Currently they are pursuing their Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Media Art at San José State University.

Proper Doll

Proper Doll is a piece that highlights how the female body is marketed in the media. People, specifically women, are told that there is a right and wrong way to look, and if you look “wrong” there are many ways to “fix” it. Noel was inspired to make the piece due to the influx of ad they received on social media. Ads about weight loss and how it is so easy to get into shape. All you need to do is subscribe to this plan, do these workouts, and take this shot. We have seen these ads before but with new generative image AI’s these ads aren’t even showing real bodies anymore but this fake unattainable goal.
The piece itself contains a center doll-like figure made of a braised wire corset as the torso and crochet arms. Noel chose crochet since it is something traditionally done by women. It is also something that machines can’t make so it is always made by hand. The wire corset also adds to the idea of this body standard being similar to a cage. The figure is wearing a blue skirt that looks more plain and traditional. The figure is sitting properly in a chair with its hands in its lap while a series of random magazine ad clippings are projected onto the figure’s skirt. Noel scanned in 168 different magazine letter clippings that are randomized onto the screen using p5.js. These ads are being projected to further the idea that all of these standards of what a “fit” body is aren’t real but they still consume us and dictate some of our actions. Noel is also including fake plants that wrap around the doll figure to further the point of fake unattainable beauty. The figure is going to face two tall mirrors so the viewer can see themselves compared to the figure.