I suggest it’s about time we get a little bit acquainted with Juno Calypso and her bizarre alter-ego Joyce, even if only because she was one of the 12 final nominees for this year’s Catlin Prize (which supports the ambitions of new graduates and emerging artists in the UK.) where she ended up winning the Visitor Vote, although that’s not the only point.

The 23-year old photographer graduated from the College of Communication in 2012, and has since then been on an upward spiral to success, exhibiting her work at the Simon Oldfield Gallery in London, being nominated for numerous prizes and also being introduced as a possible new (and maybe improved) Cindy Sherman. She works mainly with large-format photography and video installation, usually putting the two side by side.

Reception
photo trendhunter.com

Joyce was conceived in 2011, mostly by mistake as Juno was taking self shots to test out some ideas for a photo shoot she had coming up. It seems the images she came up with made everybody laugh, and at her tutor’s suggestion she dropped the model and carried on using herself.

Through Joyce, Calypso plays with the idea of femininity as it is presented to us through mass media, thus remaining ambiguous: there’s no age, family history or place where she grew up – she just represents a common feeling amongst women in their relationship with constructed femininity.

photo selfpublishbehappy.com

Agency
photo trendhunter.com

Her pastel-hued rooms filled with tacky decorations and edible props are carefully constructed to create the bizarre world of Joyce. Her glossy finish to the photographs is in direct contrast with the Botox-like, emotionless expressions and mundane surroundings to which the average woman can easily relate.

Disenchanted Simulation
photo junocalypso.com

Artificial Sweetener
photo trendhunter.com

You’re almost caught in between feeling like laughing at the character or pitying what seems to be her totally monotonous life. Inside the carefully built rooms Calypso creates, the significance of food is obvious and if you pay enough attention directly at the imagery, the meticulous and attentive detail to all of her imagery is incredible.

Reconstituted Meat Slices
photo covetandcontravene.tumblr.com

Popcorn Venus
photo itsnicethat.com

Juno’s work wouldn’t be out of place in a glossy editorial, it is a clever juxtaposition of glamorous editorial style photography that tells the very real, yet fake story behind the current western ideals of “femininity”.

“Joyce is a character through which I perform critical studies into modern rituals of seduction and beauty – her glazed appearance acting as a mirror to the exhaustion felt by whilst bearing the dead weight of constructed femininity.” Juno Calypso

Those being said, sit back and gaze into Joyce’s empty eyes and make sure to be on the look out for Juno, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from her in the near future.

Massage
photo itsnicethat.com

photo www.kitafotografija.lt

More about the artist : junocalypso.com

by Alexandra Mateescu

Alexandra Mateescu is a photo-video junkie who left her imaginary super successful forensics career in favor of the University of Arts. She frequently gets mistaken with a 16 year old high school girl so you’ll never catch her without her ID, she has a strong passion for the 80’s, and her kind of art must be funny and a little bit ironic.

http://www.behance.net/alexandra_mateescu