Expired
Prints Exhibition, 2024
This project was part of a school course called ‘Typolitiek,’ where the goal was to create a political poster using a single word. For me, the word ‘expired’ resonated. I made 3D cardboard figurative shapes, and used them as a stamp. The word ‘expired’ was set in lead type and pressed deeply into the paper to make the word look like it was branded into the skin-like paper.
The exhibition with the exhibition text below
In bold red letters, the word “expired” is printed on paper the color of human skin. The block letters stand in stark contrast to the soft, subtle lines depicting a woman’s genitalia. It appears as if the body has been stamped with a label.
“Expired”—a heavily loaded word. When is something truly expired? This term is usually used for food products, indicating their shelf life. But it is also a form of ageism, an invisible stamp pressed onto women, one they are forced to carry with them forever.
Women are often dismissed as (sexually) attractive or credible after reaching a certain age or leading a certain lifestyle. Why is a woman’s worth measured by her body and sexual desirability? They are held to an unfair double standard, despite having so much more to offer — experiences, wisdom, and skills. Yet instead of acknowledging these, society exposes them from an early age to endless anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, anti-gray-hair, and ultimately, anti-humanity advertisements.
They are forced into the narrative that they are “expired” after a certain age or a certain number of sexual partners. In the eyes of this society, they can never get it right.
This poster reveals the cruelty behind it; an inhuman stamp on a human body.
A glimpse into my work process and the evolution of my pieces leading up to the final moment
