To show the 'evil side of us all' at an art exhibit...

Artist mom dresses baby girl as Hitler

To show the 'evil side of us all' at an art exhibit...

While most mothers dress their baby daughters in frilly dresses, a Danish-Norwegian artist dressed hers up as Baby Hitler. Nina Maria Kleivan created a photo essay, dolling her daughter up as despicable despots ranging from Adolf Hitler to Saddam Hussein to explore the meaning of evil.

Evil's workshop: Baby Faustina dressed as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein in her mother's photo essay, which has been exhibited in Denmark, Sweden, Italy and Germany

"We all have evil within us. Even small children are evil towards each other," Kleivan said.

"Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist," added Kleivan, whose daughter, Faustina, is now 11 years old.

The controversial photo-series, titled Potency, has been exhibited in Denmark, Sweden, Italy and Germany.

An idle mind...

Kleivan said the idea came to her over a decade ago while she was recovering from a tough pregnancy that left her in a wheelchair for four months. Bored and unable to get to her studio, Kleivan began sewing little costumes of the most evil historical figures of the 20th century and photographing Faustina in them.

In the photo series, baby Faustina also portrays Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini Ayatollah Khomeini, Chairman Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet and Slobodan Milosevic.

"You need to be conscious that your actions have consequences that impact on your fellow humans," said Kleivan, whose father, a member of the Norwegian resistance in World War II, was held in a German prison camp.

As a result, she grew up with a 'tremendous hatred' of the Germans and fantasised about killing the guard who imprisoned her father. But Kleivan insists this is "not a deliberate provocation, it calls for reflection".

'Don't laugh'

"The people I let my daughter portray didn't give a damn about the human cost, the casualties, their thoughts caused," she said.

"Even though comical, you're not supposed to only laugh at these pictures; you need to contemplate them, ponder where this evil comes from."

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