by Dorothea Lee
11×25” x 10”
Paper (13 pieces), glue
Artist Statement
What is it like to honor a woman’s body instead of use it as a form or an art object, especially when removing it from context and working with it in collage? Does a head create identity or does it potentially narrow who “Woman” is? Conversely, does removing the head create focus on the body as an object? How can I protect a woman’s body from the continuation of historic objectification when presented in the nude? What would it be like to be completely at ease with one’s body as a woman? Is Eve—pre-sin, the epitome of a woman comfortable with herself in nakedness, or does she also represent Mother and therefore still enforce an idea of a woman’s body being used for something?
The resultant piece is my response: soft textures nesting the figure. A transition from dark to light as we progress upwards towards the Woman, culminating in an abstract halo around the head. She is at peace with her natural form, which requires neither hiding nor demands anything from the external. Simply being—secure, at rest, and in comfort. Mother Nature-Creator is present, too, and she and Woman co-exist hand-inhand, extending from one another yet perfectly separate. Here and there, Woman’s surroundings echo her—there is no voice of contrast, no hostility. All embrace.
