SYMBIOTIC ONES
JANE SVERDRUPSEN (Norway)
Perfect match! Why are we attracted to similar faces as our own? Why do couples become more similar looking to one another?
Symbiotic Ones explores the notion that many couples look similar to one another and draws upon research that suggests couples who live together for a long period of time develop similar facial features by virtue of repeated empathic mimicry. Is a perfect partner someone who shares facial features and as couples grow older together do they become more similar looking? Twelve couples individually answered 28 questions where they rated their perceived similarity to each other in various aspects of their relationship. The total score from each couple became a percentage of similarity which would determine the width of the mid-section where their photographed faces would merge into each other. The wider the mid-section, the more they would seemingly become one perfectly 'symbiotic' person.
Jane Sverdrupsen lives and works as an artist and curator in Bergen, Norway. She received an MFA from Bergen Academy of Art and Design (2013). Her work is inspired by scientific methods and ways of dissemination attributed to the natural sciences, and incorporates elements of this into her artistic approaches. She mainly works with photography, analogue and digital drawing, sculpture and installation. Jane has exhibited in Norway, England, Germany, USA, Iceland and Portugal, and works at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD) at the University of Bergen and is board member of Kunstgarasjen Art Gallery.