OBJECTIFIED SWANS
Through the lens of a sexual fantasy featuring the feminine within a 70s kitsch-pornographic-inspired environment, Objectified Swans attempts to undermine female binaries and expose them to be patriarchal weapons adopted to suppress a woman’s sexual nature and identity. This project was inspired by discussions with my sex-worker friends and frustrations with my own perceptions of performance within my sexuality. I have attempted to encapsulate the Madonna Whore Complex displaying my protagonist playing with the apparent binaries of ‘whore’ and ‘pure’. The symbology of the swan represents the duality of grace and aggression, both intrinsic to the swan. Likewise, the symbology of the feminine has both elements of the ‘pure’—which can also be related to grace and passivity to sexual desire—whilst the ‘whore’ has connotations with forcefulness and eagerness towards sex.
ig annaofpearl
