Secret Bodies, 2012

 

The work for the Secret Bodies exhibitions explores the garden as private setting. I am interested in the way the garden becomes a space for growth, renewal and transformation. Also, it is a place where the cycles of life are present. I have memories from childhood of going outside into the garden by myself early in the morning. I knew all of the flowers that could be smelled, touched and even eaten in the garden. It was a place that I felt safe and in power.

 

The sculptures are fantasy objects and explore cultural stereotypes about beauty, desire and femininity. The forms have reference to the female body and also other associations to sweets, fruit and flowers. The references consider the idea of little girls being made of, "sugar, spice and everything nice." I am addressing these clichés because I am at once drawn to them and I reject them. I both participate in traditional roles and re-imagine them to create new roles. The forms present ideas of temptation and beauty. They are intended to draw a viewer to get closer to the forms and look as though they could be squeezed or licked.

 

Secret Bodies was a solo show at Dubhe Carreño Gallery in Chicago, IL.