Hoodwink is a series of photographs that juxtapose the self-conscious language of portraiture with exaggerated bodily details and urban niche cultural signifiers. This method follows a common theme in my work – linking portraits with detail to further explore the complexities of costume, performance, and identity. These works pose questions about the visual construction of American femininity as filtered through performances of working-class, urban female roles and thus highlight interracial female tensions. Highly-constructed portraits of middle-class white women adorned in wigs, faux nails, and exaggerated jewelry are positioned before airbrushed backdrops of bucolic settings and reference an art historical tradition of portrait painting while borrowing visual elements from the vernacular culture of music videos. I question if imitation of ‘the other’ can further a cultural understanding within gendered boundaries. Or, alternatively, whether identity facilitated by consumerism is invariably disingenuous, regardless of the authenticity of the performer.