"cactus, flower, fuck-off, love, rose" - Untitled #21 Drawing

“Cactus, flowers, fuck-off, love, roses”, explores essence of femaleness beyond the biological. The title of the project comes from “tags” listed on the website Goodreads, for the quote: “Roses may say “I love you,” but the cactus says “Fuck-off”, by J. Kintz. The project was activated by the convergence of multiple events: my daughter’s 13th birthday, and the coming out of my transgender adult daughter. Both enter puberty, one for the second time, during a period of confusing norms and expectations for women. Hostility towards women seems to be on the rise, at home with the War Against Women and abroad with intensifying ultra-traditional movements. In addition, statistics on violence against Transgender females is truly frightening, making a short walk to the grocery store a clandestine event. I watch both of my daughters evolve, exploring what it means to be female. What makes a woman? In Simone De Beauvoir’s writings for The Second Sex, she penned "One is not born a woman: one becomes a woman". De Beauvoir notes the difference between being female and being a woman – the latter is learned. How will me transgender daughter ever make up for the socialization she has missed? The subtle innuendoes that condition speech patterns, facial reactions, hand movements, may determine her ability to “pass”, even more than the hormones she is taking to transform her appearance. How can she possibly catch-up? Or should she? I worry about my 13 year old, what will she leave behind, or embrace, as she forgoes her childhood and becomes a young woman? What societal pressures will she succumb to? Can she hold on to her identity, cultivate her aspirations, or is she predestined to be a construct of her environs? The project consists of 3 video pieces (“Flower Girl”, Flower Women”, and “Me Not”), plus a series of drawing. “Flower Girl” is a 3-channel video that focuses on the transition from girlhood to womanhood. “Flower Women” is a single channel video screened vertically. Filming is on-going and currently includes 20 women (both cis* and trans women). A key component of the videos reside with the symbolic connection between flowers and women. Flowers have been a symbol for femininity and womanhood since ancient times. Project participants chose a flower symbol they identify with, and communicate its meaning through their bodies. The drawing series evokes my struggle to understand the essence of womanhood, both as a female and a parent. “Me Not” documents a woman attempting to remove the needles of a cactus. The task is not so simple and eventually she uses a tiny manicure scissors. Sound is minimal – snapping, cutting and the occasional gasp when she pricks her finger on a needle. The piece references the child ritual, plucking petals while reciting “he loves me, he loves me not”, but “Me Not” is not playful. The video references gender non-conformity, violence against women (cis and trans), and resistance to cultural constructs of womanhood.

Drawing:Graphite on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:9 W x 12 H x 1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.