Unboxed.

Uma Mawrie

Medium: Photography presented via a View-Master.

Public Domain artwork referenced in this piece:

Pabst, Georg Wilhelm, dir. Die Büchse der Pandora: Variationen auf das Thema Frank Wedekinds Lulu. Nero-Film AG, 1929.

Artist Statement

Growing up surrounded by stories and images that quietly dictated what a woman "should" be, I became fascinated with the moments where those narratives fracture. Inspired by Pandora’s Box, I set out to unpack the ways women are framed, blamed, and celebrated. I invite viewers to confront how women have been seen through men’s eyes, to recognize how society has boxed women into rigid roles and condemned them for stepping outside, and to explore the persistence of hope. These fragments echo Lulu of Pandora’s Box—the silent-film heroine likened to the mythic Pandora—praised for her charm, cursed for unleashing chaos, and punished for her freedom.

The View-Master becomes a small but powerful portal into these archetypes. The Gaze and the Blame reels cycle through familiar and unexpected gestures, revealing the complexity of emotion behind each frame. With every circular click, the View-Master mimics the endless scrutiny: women looked at, judged, and replayed without consent.

Yet even within tragedy, possibility glimmers. Pandora’s myth reminds us that after all the world’s evils escaped, hope remained. The Hope reel offers a quiet defiance against a rigid gaze and embodies feminine strength unboxed. This work is a love letter to the women in my life, and to women everywhere.

About the Artist: Uma Mawrie

Integrated Design and Media Undergraduate Student, Tandon School of Engineering

Uma Mawrie is a junior at NYU studying Integrated Design and Media at the Tandon School of Engineering. As an emerging artist, she experiments with diverse media with a focus on interactive experiences. Her work is inspired by community and seeks to create spaces for connection and reflection.

Footnote

To watch a streaming version of Die Büchse der Pandora: Variationen auf das Thema Frank Wedekinds Lulu:

https://search.library.nyu.edu/permalink/01NYU_INST/1d6v258/alma990087316610107871 

Citation:

Pabst, G. W, Ladislaus Vajda, Georg C Horsetzky, Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz, et al. Die Büchse der Pandora : Variationen auf das Thema Frank Wedekinds Lulu = Pandora’s box : variations on the theme of Frank Wedekind’s Lulu. San Francisco, California, USA: Kanopy Streaming, 2014.