AE The Body Is Not Meant For Consumption

The Body Is Not Meant For Consumption
June 14, 2025

Materials: Art Panel, t-shirt, torn lace and mesh underwear, gel medium, acrylic paint pen.

Original + Print available

Original BASE is A4 size: 210 mm x 297 mm / 8.3 in x 11.7 in Length with fabric is 19 in

Print is A3 size: 297 mm x 420 mm / 29.7 cm x 42 cm / 11.7 in x 16.5 in

Two Print options are available:

$35
Coated Matte paper
Printed in Lewes, UK
300 gsm
Archival 4-color ink
Signed

$45
Coated Photographic Satin paper
Printed in Lewes, UK
300 gsm
Archival 4-color ink
Giclee print
Signed

The Story:
Tell me/us how you really feel.

The last artwork created becomes the first in the series, the piece to close the circle in an exhibition setting. It is the beginning and the end.

I spent my adolescence and young adult life consumed by the (memories of) things I thought had ruined me indefinitely and made me unlovable. The things that made it hard for me to truly experience and accept love from others. As I was reeling and raging internally and hurting those who tried to love me, I didn’t realize that I was being consumed by the bad actors who sensed the depth of my damage and sought to take advantage of it.

As I grappled first with whether or not every decision I made was in fact an attempt to make myself more palatable to the male gaze and less likely to become a victim again, I eventually came to terms with my old perceptions of self and how those, too, had changed as I went from feeling shame about the experiences I had no control over to forgiving and accepting myself as I am. Damaged, flawed, and a hardened person who wants to be soft. Unbothered with anyone’s gaze and speaking my truth for those who can’t.

My skin suit is the least interesting thing about me. And nobody has a right to my body, or anybody’s body. I have written these true stories for those who feel unsafe sharing theirs, and for those who somehow still believe that women are lying about their experiences. These are my lived experiences in my body, which was never meant to be used by others.

Complacency makes the viewer a part of the problem. Do better. Expect better from others. Tell people when they’re doing wrong.