Black Swan
STYLEFRAMES
Nina finds that her pursuit of technical perfection is not enough to succeed in the role of the Swan Queen. The role demands the mastery of both the White and the Black Swan, the latter requiring a different kind of perfection through an emotional, sensual portrayal. To achieve this, Nina wounds herself and goes onstage as the Black Swan in order to deliver her performance, using her imperfection to then achieve ultimate perfection.
The Japanese ceramic technique, kintsugi, is the practice of gluing broken pieces together with gold to make something imperfect more beautiful than if it was left intact. This is used as a framing device for Nina’s journey towards perfection in the film — the embracing of the imperfect to transcend conventional perfection.
Photography, Design: Stella Cho