Object of Desire, 2023
Object of Desire unpacks the relationships I have with my body and the societal norms, expectations and pressures that impact those relationships. My work uses nudity and sexist language to turn shame back on the viewer and express my feelings towards being constantly sexualized and objectified.
If I am not desired in a sexual or domestic space, do I even exist? Can I exist without feeling fragmented and picked apart?
My use of traditional women’s craft, depictions of common household appliances, and cat hair references the domestic. With fragmentation and stitching, I isolate scraps of my being, putting portions of myself on display. As I invite the viewer to handle, objectify, and study my most intimate parts, I express how I continuously feel sexualized and objectified to the point of no longer being seen as a person.
Through the use of traditional women’s craft, printmaking techniques, photography, and the application of cat hair, Object of Desire simultaneously attracts and repels. Cats are a constant theme throughout this body of work due to their negative association with women throughout history and the repulsive qualities their hair adds to my work. A cat’s standoffish, fickle, and aloof personality has long been associated with the domestic, and thus women. I play on this relationship and embrace it.
Humor acts as a means of communication throughout this body of work, both acting as a lighthearted and approachable component, as well as reflecting my own coping mechanisms for heavy subject matter. Tactile elements and approachable humor entice, while nudity and participatory elements create discomfort. There is shame with lingering, but a longing to stay.
My work is a dissection of self, a representation of feeling picked apart as a woman, being made to feel like a bunch of stitched together pieces, never truly feeling whole.