Private Project

Odalisque

Image of a woman reposing on a couch has been a popular motif for visual artist and a loaded subject for feminist discussions for a long time. Video Odalisque by Nataša Prosenc Stearns takes the elements of the traditional representation and rearranges them by employing various editing and compositing techniques. The body is semi-abstracted by the water curtain, which is partially obstructing the scene on the couch. So the image of the woman keeps escaping from the gaze in several driftnet ways: by changing its position, by disappearing in the shapes and movements of water and by the abstraction of extreme close-ups. Still seductive but no more submissive, Odalisque refuses the former passivity and instead celebrates a vibrant female body, one less easily pinned down.

  • Nataša Prosenc Stearns
    Director
    Souvenir, Evening
  • Nataša Prosenc Stearns
    Producer
    Souvenir, Evening
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Nataša Prosenc Stearns

Nataša Prosenc Stearns is a Slovenian born video artist and filmmaker based in Venice, CA. She moved to Los Angeles on a Fulbright Grant for her MFA at CalArts.

Nataša's work spans across several fields: single channel videos and films, multichannel video installations, video objects and prints. It reflects on the uncertain place in today’s world of consumerism and constant crisis, attempting to touch upon our center of empathy. Stylistically her work walks the line between concrete and abstract, often adding the components of surreal and ephemeral. Responding to the anxieties caused by the constant engagement with body-less cyberspace, they are focusing on human body, striving to find a ground of connection that unites people with the organic world. So her work often resides in the variable spaces between the world and the physical body, frequently hinting on its potential limitlessness.

Add Director Biography