Nina Levy's lifelike sculptures and photographs are dramatic self-portraits featuring startlingly disproportionate parts of the body emphasizing an exaggerated gesture or expression. In theatrical photographs taken against stark black backgrounds she wears a prosthetic grin, a larger than life head fitted over her own, or a realistic mask showing another side of herself. As both sculptor and sculpture, creator and subject, Levy investigates a psychology of the self, her identity exposed or guised. Aggressively gregarious or defensively withdrawn, ingratiating or threatening, she can present herself as she wishes—a reflective or projected image.
Addressing our feelings of vulnerability and apprehension, Levy's sculptures and photographs metaphorically show us that we all wear an appearance and present a persona—how we face our selves and those around us.