DELICATE STRENGTH, 2025
CHRISTINA DIEBEL
The head tilts far back, gaze lifted toward the sky.
Her face recedes, almost flat, reduced to lines, suggestion, form. And yet:
unmistakably human.
The neck, seen from this angle, appears broad, strong, grounded, while revealing its most vulnerable point.
The silk top recalls armor. But instead of rigid protection, there is softness, in movement and flow.
The perspective disrupts expectation.
It invites a second look, one that questions rather than confirms.
What happens when we stop holding on to identity and begin to see it differently?
When meaning starts to shift?
When vulnerability becomes a source of strength, and what we once assumed to be fixed turns out to be a matter of perspective?
“Delicate Strength” explores the shifting relationship between identity, perception and form. The figure appears tilted, the face flattened into abstraction, while the neck becomes a site of both strength and vulnerability. A flowing silk garment evokes softness rather than protection, contrasting with traditional symbols of control.
Through an unconventional perspective, the image challenges fixed assumptions about the body and presence.
It invites viewers to question what is seen, what is assumed, and how meaning is shaped by the angle from which we look.