Micro Project 5: Identity at Play

My action words were 'to mix' and 'nature.'
Here is what I produced:

40" x 60"

At first I had a hard time picking an 'object.' Mostly because I couldn't think of a good reason to pick any certain thing and I didn't want to just randomly use the first thing I saw at my house.  I started thinking about different definitions of 'object' and the idea of the body being seen as an 'object' really started to stick in my mind.

I don't think of my body as an object (but what is an 'object?'), but it many ways I do sort of forget it's there.  It's always there and always has been, end of story.  Through this thought process I started thinking about the stereotype of women being sex objects, which I really despise.  Sexuality is something I like to study through my artwork, especially when it comes to the female form and empowerment.
I decided to play with the notion of 'object' in my project.  The word could be interpreted differently.

So, I have my 'object.'


The word 'nature' sort of automatically went with my idea of using the body and what I was doing with it, but I was more interested in 'to mix.'  Specifically, the mixing of bodies.  My boyfriend and I painted ourselves from head to toe--him, blue and me, red; traditional male/female colors.  The mixing of the paint represents the physical mixing of our bodies.  It sort of takes the notion of the female body as an object and fights against it, while also embracing the beauty of what it can do.  The male and female forms come together, connect, mix.  Red and blue make purple.

I would like to make a series of these.  I like the spontaneity and absence of control.  There wasn't a thought about composition or aesthetic.  The product is only that--a product of the process, a documentation of an act.