Thirteen

THIRTEEN explores excess, desire and the contradictions of consumer culture through the world of adolescent girls. Meticulously staged photographic tableaux transform familiar objects of consumption into seductive and unsettling visions.

THIRTEEN is a series of meticulously staged photographic tableaux exploring excess, desire and the culture of consumption through the world of thirteen-year-old girls. Set within richly imagined domestic environments, the works examine a generation growing up surrounded by an endless proliferation of objects, images and manufactured desires, where the promise of satisfaction is perpetually deferred.

In these surreal worlds, everyday objects become extraordinary. Food is transformed into glittering treasure, toys assume an almost mythological presence, and familiar domestic spaces overflow with strange and seductive forms. Oversized insects, ornamental objects and fantastical creatures inhabit environments in which abundance borders on absurdity. The imagery is simultaneously playful and unsettling, inviting viewers to delight in its visual richness while questioning the impulses that drive our appetite for more.

At the centre of THIRTEEN are young girls navigating a world in which identity, belonging and self-expression are increasingly mediated through consumption. The age of thirteen represents a threshold between childhood and adolescence, a period of heightened awareness of social expectations, personal identity and the desire to belong. Through their presence, the works explore the tensions between innocence and sophistication, individuality and conformity, desire and fulfilment.

The series also examines our collective complicity in consumer culture. Its lavish surfaces and seductive compositions deliberately mirror the mechanisms of attraction they seek to question. Rather than offering a simple condemnation of material excess, THIRTEEN invites the viewer to recognise themselves as both witness and participant in a world where the pursuit of more rarely delivers lasting satisfaction.

Each photograph is the culmination of an elaborate process of physical construction. Over eighteen months, Everton developed intricate sets, commissioned and fabricated props, designed costumes and collaborated with specialist makers to realise these imagined worlds. The scenes are carefully choreographed and photographed in-camera, drawing on the visual traditions of painting, theatre and cinema. This labour-intensive approach creates a deliberate tension between the handmade individuality of the artworks and the mass-produced culture they depict.

Ultimately, THIRTEEN presents a world of excess without satisfaction: a seductive, disquieting reflection on contemporary desire, and on the cultural landscape inherited by a generation coming of age within it.