digital venus 2, 2014-2015

Venus, the Roman goddess of love, is a classical figure of beauty and sexuality. She became a popular subject for European artists during the Renaissance (14th to 17th century). Nudity was considered her "natural" state so depicting her in the nude was socially acceptable. The title of Venus began to reference any artistic depiction of a female in the nude, regardless of whether the artwork was a representation of the goddess.

Many artworks depict Venus standing in the pudica pose where she attempts to cover her breasts and genitals with her hands, suggesting modesty or even shame. Indeed, the term pudica comes from the Latin pudendus, which can mean either ‘shame’ or ‘external genitalia’.

digital venus 2, while depicting a Venus pudica, distracts from the nude female body through a digital manipulation of the photographic surface. It evokes the overuse of Photoshop on women's bodies in contemporary media; it reclaims historically male representations that depict a nude woman feeling shameful of her body.

written for the 2015 exhibition SELFIE