"What Are You Looking At?"
Life-size soft sculpture sex doll made using women's tights and cotton stuffing with crochet elements. 7ft x 2ft
“What Are You Looking At?” explores the idea of gaze and, more importantly, the male gaze and how it relates to how we see ourselves through others' eyes, such as gender expression and sexuality. I created somewhat of a “sex doll” with visible and surrealistic crocheted breasts and a vagina to display physical vulnerability and to try to express the disconnection and dissociation between your physical being and mind due to the fear of being sexualized and overall distress of not being perceived in the way you would like to be.
My biggest inspiration for this piece was Yayoi Kusama and her series of Compulsion Furniture. Kusama’s Compulsion Furniture is composed of phallic shaped stuffed soft sculpture that completely covers furniture, such as chairs, couches, etc. Her motif, the oblong organic shape, serves as a metaphor for her own deep-seated sexual anxieties. The plushies infest its base furniture and are seen as an unfortunate growth, symbolizing her fear and obsession over male sexuality. Kusama uses her work to overcome her fears (such as an aversion to sex) through exposure in an attempt to subvert her discomfort concerning sex. Inspired by Kusama, I also wanted to use a similar method of exposure to step out of my body and analyze something entirely outside myself through the form of soft sculpture.
Starting with a crocheted bra and panty set in beige yarn, I attached 3D crocheted boobs and a vulva, challenging societal notions surrounding nudity to delve deeper into its meaning. The doll is strategically placed in an empty corner, sitting with legs out and arms to the side, rendering it unnoticeable and belittled. This deliberate positioning plays with the literal meaning of display, emphasizing discomfort and unwanted visibility. The awkwardness of its position and inhuman-like features aim to unsettle the audience, challenging viewers to persist in looking even when "being looked back at."