Body of Work & Works of the Body

Be fruitful, but dare not eat from the vine.

When my dear friend and colleague Ray Eddy first came to me proposing a photoset to accompany her ongoing printmaking poetry book series, I was struck with inspiration. Already familiar and enchanted by her written works; often hosting an onslaught of bodily themes, grotesque femininity, unabashed vulnerability, zeal for yearning, it was an obvious yes to the opportunity to collaborate together once again. She expressed an interest in using the shoot to further explore the motif of consumption through the lens of womanhood.

Ray Eddy. Photographed by Skylar Simmons. Collaborative Creative Direction.

We decided to emphasize the color red, to no chagrin from myself. According to the London Image Institute as of February 2020, “the color Red attracts the most attention and is associated with strong emotions, such as love, passion, and anger. It's the universal color to signify strength, power, courage, and danger. Red is vibrant, stimulating and exciting with a strong link to sexuality and increased appetites.” With this in mind, we decided on the incorporation of red fruit in our imagery, which boast mythological and religious allegory for fertility, love, life, and temptation.

I was struck first with the interest to use sheer fabrics and nylon. Through lace and sheer fabrics, these symbols of both purity and promiscuity we were interested in touching on the physical representation of the woman; the Giver. The self that is handed to another; suggestions of hand in marriage, hand in panties, and the servitude to a Lover and the assimilation to a preexisting form become apparent. The nylon, a historically feminine-product associated material would find its place in our scene in the form of pantyhose, the sheer, nude, “flawless” second skin becoming our emblem for external presentation of womanhood. There becomes a balance visually between organic silks and synthetic nylons.

Using glitter, we reference Mary, the Mother of Sorrow and Mother of Piety— piety also being a pillar of The Cult of True Womanhood, a mid-19th century social construct along with purity, submissiveness, and domesticity— with shimmer tears streaming down eyes. The use of silver and gold glitter throughout the images is referential to these themes and the concept of such pillars that are expected to be upheld and prided on, to worn as a badge of honor even in the modern age, which we aim to question.

We started the session with the intention of using the body, Ray, as the means to have our imagery symbols interact. The first set of digital photographs depict Ray, draped and surrounded by white, with a white plaster bust of herself peaking over her shoulder, representative of the omnipresent expectations of women. The stark contrast of her dark gloves, knife, and lower waist represent the indulgence in temptation. Here we aim to question the extent of indulgence. Sexuality first comes to mind, naturally, however her singularity in the image, and the bust’s reminder of such singularity, the scene leads to a narrative about the giving and taking within and nurturing of the self taking priority over others.

A Storm in the Rocky Mountains—Mount Rosalie, Albert Bierstadt, 1866

Many elements come into play in this image, tattoos lending a tender 21st-century take on a Classical-style, romantic arrangement. This becomes the first in which the watermelon makes an appearance in the top left corner, This peeking placement is a reference to 1800’s American Hudson School painters use of “the Sublime,” a moment of foreboding tension or symbol of change, typically expressed by a looming storm cloud in the distance of an otherwise idealistic and awesome scene. Here, our cloud is the watermelon, representing fertility, birth, and motherhood. The knife laying between the subject and sublime represents choice.

The Mother of Sorrows, Martino Altomonte, 1744

This set is deeply referential to Baroque Era, with emphasized contrasts and drama. The colors, drapery, and use of the watermelon were conscious composition to represent the choice and transition of womanhood to motherhood and the shift of identity. The pose, however, was an unconscious mimicry of The Mother of Sorrows, by Martino Alomonte. The upward gaze representing the awareness and expectation from demands of high powers.

Carrying the weight of a watermelon has become, in the digital age, an opportunity for women to show men the difficulties of navigating life during pregnancy. The couples record the man wrapping layers of plastic around their torso, holding the watermelon to their stomach in place of a pregnant abdomen. They are requested to switch laundry, put on shoes, roll out of bed, and various other tasks that women negotiate throughout pregnancy on a daily basis. While they laugh through the videos, once posted to social media, the plastic wrap falls away, surely the couple cuts into the watermelon, and the man probably thinks, “well that was weird but fun” as the woman holds her swollen belly or grips her aching back and counts the months left of hosting a life she will dedicate the rest of herself to once her womb is empty.

It is assumed by us as artists and childless young women, that when a woman becomes a mother it is a new stage and identity. In seeing the devotion of our own mothers and the complexities both mother and child face together, the relationship is far more consuming than any other relationship in a woman’s life. Once a mother, she is never not a Mother; the permanent Giver. Devotion to dependence may very well be intrinsic, but daunting to face reality that upon conception, we no longer belong to ourselves, made sure by the overturning of Roe V. Wade as of June 2022, leaving abortion and reproductive rights up to state legislation, resulting in 41 states banning abortion with only limited exceptions in the United State of America.

Does a woman, a mother, mourn the loss of her Self in the celebration of her child? Does the care for the child supersede the care of her self because she exists no more?

Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya, 1819-1823

While Saturn Devours His Son, we couldn’t imagine Venus doing so. Goya left her out. A mother does not, typically, fear being overthrown by her child. It is far more accepted for a mother to eat herself away, worn down and regurgitated into the mouths of her children so that they may succeed. Whether it be the instinct to care or the expectations of women to dedicate to the private sphere of house tending and childrearing, it is taboo for a woman to want else. Through centuries of “pillars, “ expectations, and stereotypes, it has also become ineffable to look towards prioritizing the self, public sphere, or reject motherhood, even today. Where there are rights and excessive consumption in so many aspects of American culture, women indulging in themselves is conditional and dictated by external conditions that neglect their boundaries and autonomy.

Here we give permission for women to devour, consuming these changes to feed the self; an act of autoeroticism devoid of sexuality. At best it is an aim in, to, and from the female gaze. Autonomy celebrated, finally. The grotesque, stickiness of the fruit, first cut and scooped out, becomes less about motherhood and instead represents the rejection of giving the self away, or at the very least, the freedom of choice. The heads of strawberries plunged and pressed into the synthetic fibers of the nylon are the fullness and return of such autonomy, held close.

Skin to skin contact.

Expectations still loom with the bust watching over the festivities that come from the consumption. Still, unphased, and pristine it, she, watches unamused and unable to interfere. Ray and I, the two subjects in the final set, represent womanhood and its complexities within a spectrum of unconditional love and carnal desire. While some poses mirror one another, geminis with eyes cast upwards in awareness of the persisting standards, others depict earnest service, and feeding one other, symbolic of both a unified self and representative of those who champion the desire to “taste all that one is meant to in life,” as Ray would say.

There is little piety, submissiveness, domesticity, and purity to the final photoset; a declarative resolve in our aims to address what it means to consume and to be a woman.

After editing the photographs a new question arose, “how will these be perceived?”

A harsh reminder that despite any photos, effort, or writing to say “take me as I am, this is it,” these bodies are still not our own. Perceptions of the nude-like form, homoerotic anticipation, scrutiny over “professionalism,” and sexualization most of all come to mind. The only means of gaining merit for these photographs, I fear, would be to spoon feed intentions as I have just laid out, lest others, yet again tell us who and what we are.

How ironic.

Now, viewers and readers, I pose a question to you;

“Are you hungry yet?”

This project and reflection would not be possible without the inspiration and collaborative efforts of Ray Eddy who I implore you to support on her writing and artistic career. You can find her works and more on Instagram @gymnosomata. Limited photos can be viewed on @papr.text.