ARTIST STATEMENT
Fruitful
“Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28) “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house and your sons like olive branches around the table.” (Psalm 128: 3)
Throughout cultures, women’s fertility has been associated and represented by fruit. We are often compared to fruits that are fleshy-skinned, pleasant smelling and many-seeded—apples, bananas, cherries, figs, mangoes, oranges, grapes, dates, pomegranates, quince, peaches and pears. When these fruits were meaningful symbols, people believed them to be potentially fertile, particularly for bearing sons. Fertility was a mythical process—one full of rites, goddesses and ceremonies. In our culture, fertility doesn’t mean much. We have science to explain this process, giving us an understanding and ability to control our fertility. We have fertility clinics, birth control pills, condoms, pre-natal vitamins, OB-GYNs, and sterilization. In some ways, it is sad to lose this sense of mystery. However, with understanding, comes control over our own reproduction. Now we have the choice when and if we use our fertility to become pregnant. If you’re infertile, you can try and become fertile and vice-versa. This was never an option for those for whom these symbols meant something. In my most recent project Fruitful,I asked my models to choose from a list of fruits long associated with fertility. Each chose one that resonated with them in some way. All of my models are at their most fertile period in their lives. While sitting for me, my subjects were asked to interact with their chosen fruit. This improvisation game displays not only a portrait, but also a manifestation of their fertility. These women have chosen to take their fertility into their own hands.
Fruitful gallery – view
Fruitful
“Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28) “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house and your sons like olive branches around the table.” (Psalm 128: 3)
Throughout cultures, women’s fertility has been associated and represented by fruit. We are often compared to fruits that are fleshy-skinned, pleasant smelling and many-seeded—apples, bananas, cherries, figs, mangoes, oranges, grapes, dates, pomegranates, quince, peaches and pears. When these fruits were meaningful symbols, people believed them to be potentially fertile, particularly for bearing sons. Fertility was a mythical process—one full of rites, goddesses and ceremonies. In our culture, fertility doesn’t mean much. We have science to explain this process, giving us an understanding and ability to control our fertility. We have fertility clinics, birth control pills, condoms, pre-natal vitamins, OB-GYNs, and sterilization. In some ways, it is sad to lose this sense of mystery. However, with understanding, comes control over our own reproduction. Now we have the choice when and if we use our fertility to become pregnant. If you’re infertile, you can try and become fertile and vice-versa. This was never an option for those for whom these symbols meant something. In my most recent project Fruitful,I asked my models to choose from a list of fruits long associated with fertility. Each chose one that resonated with them in some way. All of my models are at their most fertile period in their lives. While sitting for me, my subjects were asked to interact with their chosen fruit. This improvisation game displays not only a portrait, but also a manifestation of their fertility. These women have chosen to take their fertility into their own hands.
Fruitful gallery – view