The Bridesmaid, Altered hand painted digital photogaraph by Sarnia de la Maré

 

 A post shared by iServalan (@sarniadelamare)

The Bridesmaid by Sarnia de la Maré is a surreal bridal portrait in mixed media digital portrait Victorian style. It uses double exposure effect from layers of fine art and contemporary bridal artwork to create a surreal self-portrait photography.

The Bridesmaid
Mixed Media Digital Portrait by Sarnia de la Maré

The Bridesmaid reimagines the timeless role of the wedding attendant through a surreal, dreamlike lens. This self-portrait draws on Victorian hand-painting techniques once used to enhance and romanticise early photographs, now reinterpreted in a digital medium.

The process began with a base photographic portrait, which was digitally “hand painted” to soften features, heighten colour, and add painterly depth, echoing the delicate brushwork of 19th-century studio artists. Two public domain images—a bridal figure and a pastoral landscape—were then overlaid using double-exposure styling, allowing them to merge seamlessly into the composition. The bridal figure appears both within and upon the subject, creating an uncanny interplay between identity and archetype.

White braided hair frames the composition like an ornamental border, while gold-embroidered fabric recalls the opulence of vintage ceremonial attire. The glowing glasses act as a portal into the layered imagery, making the viewer question where one image ends and another begins. The result is a haunting yet celebratory vision, where the modern self-portrait is refracted through history, memory, and ritual.

 

Press

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Artist Sarnia de la Maré unveils a feminist triptych-in-progress: self-portraiture, satire, and the fragile stage of modern womanhood

Sarnia de la Maré FRSA has released City Chicks, the third work in her ongoing selfie-art series, joining The Bridesmaid and Tribal Grandmother to form what is emerging as a powerful triptych-in-progress. This body of work places the artist herself at the centre of a conversation about women, performance, and fractured identity in the digital age.

  • The Bridesmaid (2025) uses Victorian layering techniques and double exposure to create a ghostly, painterly portrait. The work highlights historical erasures of women’s agency while reasserting presence through layered time.

  • Tribal Grandmother (2025) — in both monochrome and a blue-wash colour version — invokes the matriarchal figure as symbol of wisdom, strength, and continuity. The piece speaks to generational memory and the silencing of elder voices in contemporary culture.

  • City Chicks (2025) moves into satirical territory. Here, three golden, mirrored figures tread on fragile eggshells while oversized chicks look on. Bleeding toes expose the cost of “walking on eggshells” for public image, while the absurd chick imagery critiques the infantilisation of women and the absurdity of performance.

Together, these three works form the opening act of a broader project that reclaims the selfie as intellectual and artistic rebellion. The repetition of the artist’s own body—mirrored, fractured, reimagined—collapses the divide between artist, subject, and critic, making the work both personal and universal.

The triptych establishes the tone for the larger series-in-progress: an evolving dialogue between history, myth, and satire, with women’s visibility and vulnerability at its core. Collectors now have the opportunity to acquire these works at their inception, as the series expands into a fuller exploration of identity, endurance, and feminist commentary.

City Chicks is now available exclusively through de la Maré’s Saatchi Art store.

About the Artist

Sarnia de la Maré FRSA (also known as iServalan) is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and writer whose work spans visual art, music, and experimental cinema. Her practice often integrates feminist critique, neurodiverse awareness, and environmental commentary.

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sarniadelamare@gmail.com