Alexandra Jacoby
artist’s statement, SEP 2010
One day, out of the blue, a friend of mine asked me if I liked the way my vagina looked. Apropos nothing. Did I like the way my vagina looked? As I answered, I realized that I had never really taken a good look at my vagina, and that, other than a bit of porn, I hadn’t actually seen any other women’s vaginas.
While I was pretty sure that they were all different, I had no evidence to point to when talking with my friend, who clearly thought that there was something wrong with how hers looked.
I began asking around and found that most women had not seen other women’s vaginas—nor necessarily seen their own. The conversations that spiraled out revealed how little consideration we give our vaginas. Our gynecologists and lovers were on intimate terms with them, but not us.
Why and how did it come to be that the vagina, the gateway to life, would hold this lowly place in our collective consciousness?
And so began vagina vérité® — an unabashed exploration of the plain, ordinary, mysterious matter of vaginas.
I’ve made 112 v-portraits, each beautiful and strikingly unique.
My vision is that vagina vérité® will act as a collective mirror, to spark conversation about self-image, sexuality, health/wellbeing and identity—to bring into focus the value of our individual experiences and expression.
So we can see ourselves for ourselves.
more...
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 download this artist statement [pdf]
download Alexandra Jacoby's CV [pdf]
previous exhibitions [web page]
exhibition highlights [pdf]
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