Reflection

"Reflection", Barbara Park Racusen, 1959, Bronze

At first glance, Barbara Park Racusen’s sculpture Reflection seems to be of a woman looking at herself in a small mirror, although it becomes clear upon following her gaze that the woman actually averts her eyes away from her own reflection. As a figure whose body conforms to the standards of twentieth century Western beauty - a woman with a thin but curvaceous body and a pretty face - the nature of her gaze offers a critique of the society's standards. She seems psychologically uncomfortable with her reflection, a widespread symptom of America's impossible standards of beauty.