Monday, December 7, 2009

Paraphilia/Paraphobia






















40" x 22"
Digital print - photo collage

In its ideal form, this project was envisioned as a video/performance art piece. Nude except for clothing made of pieces of stuffed animals, with a furry, phallic object attached to my groin, I would move through private spaces (such as bathrooms, bedrooms, closets, etc.) and interact with the space on film. I would "become" this different person, covered by the wearable sculpture, and interact with the space according to the desires and attractions of the creature that I seem to be.

In this piece, I was thinking a lot about issues of sexuality. I thought about how society's views about us as sexual beings - and how that conflicts with our real sexual identity - can destroy us, in a way. I thought a lot about the feminist interpretation of the "Madonna-whore complex" and the way in which that restricts women as sexual beings, making sex and sexuality simultaneously the most interesting and the most disgusting things about a person. Having to hide who you are; having to escape from what you want in order to be accepted.

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