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Creativity
And Feminine Multiplicity
External
investigation of the subject’s genitalia reveals no indication of
recent abuse. However, for the sake of a thorough investigation,
the genitalia can not be disregarded, especially because the subject
came to us in the nude, leading this investigator to suspect the
cause of art may be of a sexual nature.
The vagina is the
location for a woman’s creative, artistic self, our shadow self,
our sexuality, the evil twin, feminine multiplicity, courage, strength,
power, fluidity and femininity. The vagina is the most secret, personal
and intimate part of a woman’s body. It is a source of mystery and
intrigue.
However, in Western
culture, the vagina also evokes hate, fear and disgust as well as
guilt. For many, the vagina represents darkness, ambiguity and evil.
The vagina has been viewed as dirty, unattractive, rotten, disease-ridden
and messy. It is seen as inferior to the penis, a void, penetrable
and weak, to be conquered and filled by masculinity.
Labeling
In An Attempt To Oppress
Our culture has a
long history of misogyny. For centuries, society has attempted to
repress all of the positive aspects of the vagina and woman’s true
nature. Western culture has labeled woman to fit into contrived
conceptions of, variously, slut, mother, virgin, daughter, lover,
mistress, bitch, wife and whore. Name calling extends far beyond
positioning limited roles of femininity, it also includes a lengthy
list of ridicule, diminishing woman’s sexuality into hateful and
childish phrases. The vagina, removed from it’s bodily existence,
has been labeled: Beaver, Black Hole, Box, Bug, Bush, Cabbage, Cave,
Clam, Cleft, Crease, Crevice, Cunt, Ditch, Drain, Evil Eye, Fish,
Flap, Hot Lips, Kitty, Long Eye, Man Trap, Monkey, Muff, Oyster,
Punta, Pussy, Slit, Snatch, Thing, Tidbit, Tuna, Tunnel, Twat, Ugly,
Vent, and Wound. Western society has used these labels and more
to gain control over women and demythify the magical and spiritual
qualities of woman and her vagina.
Traditional
Western Views On Femininity
Femininity has been
traditionally described as receptive and nurturing, as exemplified
by the receiving and gestating function of the vagina and womb.
To be feminine is to be like a vagina, in contrast to the powerful,
erect and controlling masculinity attributed to the phallus. Western
woman is expected to be like a vessel, receiving, encompassing,
enclosing, global, holistic, welcoming, sustaining, protecting,
nourishing, conserving, embracing, containing, stable and inclusive.
For many in Western culture, the vagina represents the ‘traditional’
feminine traits of passivity, tenderness and sensitivity. Western
women are trained to be sympathetic, sentimental, delicate, tolerant,
compassionate and easily molded. Traditionally, proper women have
been expected to be silent, easily penetrated, soft, subdued and
fertile.
In Western culture,
the female body has been negatively constructed as a leaking, lactating,
discharging, menstruating, polluting, uncontrollable, seeping liquid
that lacks the ability for ‘self containment’ (seen solely as a
masculine trait). The soft wet interior of woman’s vagina is viewed
in direct opposition to the solid ideal of man’s erect penis. Woman
has been de-solidified and reduced to liquidity. Woman’s ability
for transformation, change, mutation and flux has been used against
her. The ‘uncontrollable’ changing form of the female that occurs
during puberty and pregnancy has come to further illustrate the
fluid nature of the woman and her vagina.
Reacting Against
Tradition
Some women view their
vagina as a weapon to be used against men instead of allowing themselves
to be victimized by Western culture’s perceptions of femininity
and the vaginal female. There are many theories behind why some
women use sexuality to obtain power and money. All women, consciously
or not, have at one time or another used the powers of female sexuality
to obtain masculine power. The most obvious explanation being that
sex, or withholding sex, was traditionally the only power available
to a woman in patriarchal society. There is the instinctual need
for women to survive and prosper in a male dominated culture, regardless
of the physical cost. Many women who use their sexuality in this
manner were first victimized because of their beauty. Female attractiveness
is a double edged sword. Although beauty is a clear asset in many
circumstances, it can also be a woman’s worst enemy if she is not
in control over the situation. Somehow external feminine beauty
makes some men feel they must posses it, by any means, even through
rape, ownership and abuse.
Using one’s sexuality
to obtain power and control is a dangerous business. The woman imagines
herself as a duality, separated as two distinct entities. First,
she is the exterior image, presented for consumption and seduction
and second, she is the true interior self. This behavior can lead
to feelings of isolation and loneliness for the woman who must maintain
the facade. In the course of this action, some women lose touch
with the real person within, and actually believe themselves to
be the empty exterior they present to the world.
Woman And
Evil
In the traditional
Western view, women have always been closely identified with evil.
According to Christian legend, since the beginning of humanity,
female bodies have harbored evil. Woman as body, as vessel, have
been worshipped, coveted, feared and hated. Uncontrolled sexual
passions of man have been blamed upon the seductive and insatiable
desires of woman. As a result of this accusation, anything related
to women was morally suspect. Women have had no voice in moral matters
and they have been positioned as Christianity’s scapegoat for all
evil, from the fabled beginning in the Garden of Eden.
Hidden
Representations Of The Vagina
In Western culture,
women are encouraged to repress their true sexuality. Frequently,
in conscious or unconscious artistic creation, the repressed side
of the persona is depicted as an evil, separate being of the same
sex. Historically, the mythological representations of this aspect
of femininity have been represented as a devil, archenemy, temptress,
fiend, double, a dark evil one of a pair of twin sisters or as a
shadow. Other images that have traditionally represented the dual
nature of woman or more literally, the vagina, have been doors,
gates, Janus figures, the color black, roundness, the underworld,
night time, death, closures, containers, burials and other places
of death, the sun and moon in one image, clocks, holes, circles,
wheels, caves, cages, boxes, traps, disks, claustrophobic spaces
and contained images. In my own works, I reclaim and revitalize
many of these traditional vaginal symbols, providing positive meaning
for women in the 21st century.
Feminine
Multiplicity
The second self (described
previously as the evil twin or shadow self) represents a sexual,
creative being that has been repressed because patriarchal society
has deemed this artistic, sexually aware, non-conforming self, as
threatening to society. In the past, Western women have been forced
to actively participate in the repression of this other half of
their existence, by not allowing their artistic selves to function
in society. Women have buried this part of themselves for fear of
what it might reveal and for what Western culture’s punishment might
be.
The artistic, sexual,
shadow self is not evil, but a positive force, encouraging creativity,
evolution and transcendence of Western culture’s limiting and oppressive
roles. She is the part of our self engaged in a crucial quest for
truth, spiritual illumination and primal knowledge. This aspect
of our being insists on telling the truth while revealing our untamed
sexual instinctive nature. She wants to live and be recognized,
not be repressed and ignored. She embraces her embodiment, celebrates
honesty and will bow to no patriarchal God. She is open, sincere,
and willing to take risks. She is the part of ourselves that is
independent, unique and refuses cultural limits, containment and
protection.
Feminine multiplicity
is expressed in my works whenever there are twins, triplets, quadruplets,
etc. I include the multiple aspect of our sexuality through duplicating
or patterning the female figure. Often, I incorporate repetition
of the same figure, in the same pose, at different distances or
groupings, to express multiplicity of the individual. Even though
the exterior of the woman remains relatively similar, her place
or moment in time may differ, and her thoughts, feelings and emotions
may be separate from the identical image before her. Here again,
I reinterpret a traditional (negative) vaginal concept and infuse
it with new positive meaning for a 21st century audience.
The Vagina
In Relation To My Own Art
I deeply respect and
celebrate all aspects of female sexuality. However, I choose not
to emphasize or blatantly display the vagina in the majority of
my works because of this culture’s history of misogyny. Feminists
of the 70’s attempted to construct a new form of femininity and
female power through the use of vaginal imagery, but, unfortunately,
the attempt had poor results and was even considered pornographic
by many. Those opposed to the vaginal imagery felt that it reduced
women’s bodies to the status of purely sexual objects and reduced
the notion of women’s sexuality to penetration. They also felt the
female genital images diminished and fragmented women’s sexuality
and her accomplishments. In order to avoid similar misconceptions
and unnecessary controversy that can take away from the true meaning
of my works, I try to avoid fragmented vaginal representations.
Despite vaginal art’s
lack of public acceptance, I still strongly agree with the overall
intent of the vaginal artists. I believe that everything I think,
do and create is affected by my existence as female. In many ways
I see and experience the world from a vaginal perspective, therefore,
I am affected by how others conceive of the vagina. As both a woman
and an artist, I feel it is my right and obligation to help change
how the Western world perceives female genitalia. I feel the vagina
is a beautiful part of the female anatomy and that it deserves to
be celebrated. However, I also believe it’s usefulness in art history
as a single statement has passed. My views on women focus on the
whole of our embodiment. I believe all aspects of our corporeality
are of equal importance and we should celebrate them all. My goal
is to work against fragmentation and body part objectification.
I choose to discuss the significance of certain fragments in an
attempt to tackle deeper issues while maintaining an ongoing awareness
of the whole female.
Representing the
vagina symbolically should not lessen its significance or intent
in my work. I feel I can acknowledge and celebrate this aspect of
our female anatomy without blatantly exposing it. I do not avoid
representing the vagina, however I do choose not to exaggerate it
in the same way in which I exaggerate other aspects of the female
body. This is both an aesthetic choice as well as a desire to avoid
a misreading of my works.
For me, the act of
painting is as intimate and personal as the processes of the vagina.
I believe creating is a matter of discharging the negative and encompassing
the positive. Painting is a private and satisfying way to purge
pent up emotions and regain a sense of balance. Creating is a way
to be in touch with my whole being. My work expresses a purely female
perspective in a way that is respectable and cannot be disregarded
as inferior because of my gender.
In many ways the actual
structure of my paintings is vaginal. Compositions are often central
and oval and the layers of imagery unfold upon on another similar
to the overlapping folds of the vagina. My subject matter, although
not blatantly vaginal is often equally taboo and disturbing to the
average Western viewer. I confront issues most would prefer to keep
hidden, similar to those aspects of themselves or their bodies they
would prefer to ignore. Also, like the vagina, my works are often
seen as unattractive and offensive. It takes an open mind to accept
and appreciate the more discreet aspects of our embodiment.
Many of the paintings
included on AEFraser.com are prime examples of vaginal concepts
for a variety of reasons. For instance, Entangled Void, Cloaked
Fear, Guardians, Hatchery, Frozen Anticipation, Barren Space, Awakening,
Effusion and Cerebral Gathering are clear cut examples of ‘feminine
multiplicity’. The figures in Entangled Void and Frozen Anticipation
have central egg-shaped openings that could be interpreted as vaginal.
Cloaked Fear’s labial, cave-like structure with it’s dark red interior
is an excellent example of the more traditional vaginal imagery.
In Guardians, the structure the figures are sitting on is a red,
multi-layered hole in the earth, easily interpreted as a vagina.
Likewise, Hatchery, Awakening and Cerebral Gathering depict similar
pit-like structures. In Hatchery, the black interior of the fish’s
mouth (swallowing the serpent) is reminiscent of Western culture’s
subconscious vaginal fears. Effusion provides another penetrating
example with the hole and serpent. Accusation depicts bloody vagina-like
holes in the earth and red cracked openings on the eggs. Prognosticator’s
vaginal concepts, though less obvious and more traditional, are
expressed through the use of the disk and the overall representation
of a red hell or the underworld. Many more vaginal interpretations
can be made based on these painting examples, as well as from the
lists provided previously in this chapter. |
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