Although seemingly anonymous, several female subjects depicted in the Paravent Girls bear identifiable names; for example, Suzy Playing, Jennifer and Barbara, and L'étonnement d’ Amélie(all 2022). Amer begins by painting these figures onto the unfolded surfaces of discarded cardboard boxes, before transferring these portraits into clay, redrawing each of their features in relief. The clay models are cast, eventually realized as bronze sculptures. Amer’s tactile approach is reflected in the raised ridges of the outline across the surface that reveal the imprint of the artist’s hand. A quality of tenderness is brought to light upon close examination.

Titled the “Paravent Girls,” this series exemplifies Amer’s long-standing concern regarding the gaze and the power dynamics at work in the act of looking. Paravents, or “folding screens,” were utilized as privacy devices, often used to conceal an (undressing) woman from view. Mass media have often portrayed screens in scenes of flirtation, seduction, or even outright violations of privacy. Thus, Amer’s primary material of unfolded cardboard boxes serve as a visual metaphor to these screens, calling attention to the roles of the viewer and the viewed. In the Paravent Girls, the female figure is depicted on both sides of the sculpture, as if to defy conservative notions of modesty. As art historian and scholar Isabella Archer remarks: 

Making bronze sculptures is both symbolic and significant. After all, bronze, sturdy and imposing, is the metal of choice for statues that are made to face the elements as well as the test of time.  Monuments and memorials to history, people, places, and allegories are often recorded in bronze in public spaces around the world. [...]

The confidence of Amer’s girls, smiling and playing as they dress or undress themselves and the other, belie the nature of the paravent and recall its humble origins—a cardboard box, a porn magazine—that are given weight and permanence when cast in metal.