Facial Signature, 2015
As one of the leading contemporary artists in conceptual photography, Tomoko Sawada’s work explores cultural identification and gendered societal norms through self-created portraiture. Through the use of costume detail, hair and makeup, framing and posture, Sawada intricately constructs her photographic imagery, thus throwing into question the identities of whom she is representing. Since her breakthrough series, ID400, Sawada has exhibited a number of other photographic series, including, Bride, Mirrors and Omiai, all focusing on “the tension between a public image and what we believe is our individual or core inner self”.