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The Woman who had no Vagina © Carolyn Bayliss, 2008 | ||||||
| I started making the rag doll by hand circa 2006 and, initially, I was going to make an entire doll. I looked at the legs one evening on my bedroom floor and thought "you already have a project". From this The Woman who had no Vagina was born. I have photographed the doll for the Vagina project and also general photography and you can see the doll with and without a spine. I have also made a head (with incomplete hair) and this is seen in some of my work. | |||||||
| I feel that, in a lot of ways, art makes itself. I'm not sure where the subject came from or for what reason, it was simply something that struck me. I have been asked why I have done this work and what made me choose the subject and that perhaps I have issues about the vagina. I'm not sure to be honest, the images that I have created are just about "the vagina that society has created" and covers issues such as mutilation in hard core porn, slang, abortion, genital reconstruction and email spam. It's hard for me to say why I have done this work, but here it is and I hope that you can take something from it. | |||||||
| I've exhibited the work a few times and it is the doll along with A3 cards with images in the corner and I have asked people to write comments on the cards. I have chosen some of the comments that I have received and they can be viewed with the images to the right. | |||||||
| Some people have commended this work, some ignored it and some ridiculed it. I have had the piss taken out of my accent and videos put on youtube by someone I exhibited with in St. Albans (please see Belinda Crayfish at www.youtube.com/squeeze801) and there have been a few venues that simply refuse to show the work. I've been asked whether I am "alright" with my own vagina and whether there are any issues I have about my body etc. I think it's a shame that if you make a statement or create some work that you may then become analysed by a viewer who needs an explanation for it. It has been said that it is a bit "weird" and all I can think of there is that I have created mainstream images regarding a subject matter that is normally viewed (porn etc) privately or in a different manner (such as abortion, genital reconstruction etc). | |||||||
I may continue to exhibit this, I may not, I may write a book, who knows. Anyway, I hope that you find this of interest and send me your comments to add to the webpages. Carolyn x |
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