Columbia College Chicago 2022 MFA Thesis

Unknowable Bodies is a sculptural installation with performative components that features interchangeable body parts. The communal use of body parts from one creature to another highlights transformation that disguises or ambiguates the body. The shareable qualities these creatures possess allows for anonymity when it is necessary for safety when traveling in a public space that commodifies, villainesses, sexualizes and finds feminine bodies unworthy or incapable. Feminine body parts permanently affixed to oneself limit the freedom and control of the individual’s experience. Whether for pleasure such as exploring the seclusion and serenity of nature unaccompanied or simply the daily necessity of using public transit or a sidewalk to get from one destination to the next, the weight of the permanency of these fixtures on a feminine body calls for common unwanted attention at the very least, to sexual violence to disappearance and death at the worst. This space exists to protect feminine bodies and identity by allowing body parts to be detachable and transient by giving way for freedom to traverse the world just as those who do not operate the world while carrying that heaviness that has been assigned onto feminine bodies.

Photo credit: Natasha Moustache