Being a plus size woman in America has challenges surrounding how the body can be viewed as beautiful or not. This is caused by society, close friends or family, and sometimes ourselves. This draft video explores the ideas behind ideal beauty and how it is skewed towards plus size bodies. I have also been a plus size person and find it a rare to see others like myself represented. I found a plus size mannequin, a form that is supposed to represent those shopping in a plus size department but is still built with an ideal shape. Hourglass frame well rounded behind and breasts, but this isn’t the common body type. Using a sculpting material, I built my shape onto the form that is supposed to represent me, a drastic difference. The Venus sculptures is a slow growing collection of different body types that are not wildly shown in media or willingly shown in society. I was greatly inspired by the Venus of Willendorf and Venus of Hohle Fels, some the earliest sculptures to believe to be made and they are full figured women. While we still aren’t sure what the actual purpose of these small statues were for, I like to believe they represented those in a community that had qualities that made them special or worth celebrating. With this series I aim to explore body types that aren’t normally seen as beautiful or seen daily in our lives. These bodies exist and should be seen, beautiful isn’t a state of mind but is all bodies.

 

*If anyone would like to view the draft series video, please contact the artist via email*