Eternal Feminine (self-portrait as 121 dildos) consists of 121 individual 2”x2”x7” silicone casts of my own body scaled down to 6,” each with a functional suction cup base. These figures hang from steel rings hooked to the wall. All 121 are hung either in a series of concentric circles or wall-to-wall rows. 37 of the figures have other material mixed into the silicone, an array of found materials and personal ephemera. Research for this piece included gathering instances in literature and theory where a body is likened to a phallus or a penis, or otherwise shrunk down to an insertable scale. The list includes Jacques Lacan, Ella Freeman Sharpe, Frans Masereel, and Charles Bukowski.
Eternal Feminine (self-portrait as 121 dildos), silicone, pigment, seashells, lavender buds, dryer lint, lemon zest, teeth, beads, money, quail feathers, Venus razor head, dietary supplements, fruit seeds, Betty’s vermilion, condom wrapper, sawdust, cotton swabs, plastic cherry, dust, cluster flies, ibuprofen, half of a best/friends pendant, rosebuds, tampon, copper shavings, paint tube, hair, tarlatan, paintbrush head, potting soil, 84”x84”x7,” 2020
© Sally Clegg 2024