Paula Stuttman

Excerpt from Rotten Representations: A Life of Her Own
(2023)

An exploration of disability representation in the 1950 movie A Life of Her Own starring Lana Turner and directed by George Cukor.

body parts_
2020
2:26 min.

body parts_ is a riff on the children’s game “head, shoulders, knees and toes.” This video uses images that were made with paint, ink, pencil on paper. The images depict body parts including those named in the song and
those that are omitted. The changing images move at a fast pace. The palette is limited to red, black and the white of the paper. At random points there is a break from the imagery through the use of a red painterly void. As the work progresses – the image of a named part (head, shoulders, knees or toes) aligns with the audio.

The Disappearance
2020
3:33 min.

The Disappearance is a narrative on disappearing.

Image description is incorporated in the work.

curtains!
2020
1:33 min.

The repeating elements are curtains, holes, and a yellow space between the stage and the curtain’s edge. The final images are of a yellow void. The sound is a summer rain.