eVE IN EDEN

THE FEMALE BODY BEFORE IT LEFT PARADISE.

11”x14” gelatin silver prints, and home-developed negative scans of 6x7cm medium format film. 2022

The female body is sacred. It is life-giving; a portal that brings souls earthside from the heavens. The female body is aligned with the celestial; it is one with the moon cycles and sheds blood not born from violence.

“And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good…”

In all of its shapes, sizes, and colors. All of its weight distribution, hair growth, hormones, acne, stretch marks, freckles, asymmetry, skin discoloration, loose skin, and rolls.

And yet it is one of the most scrutinized, abused entities in our entire universe. Women are slowly, tortuously disassembled (or rather, devoured) daily by unwelcomed, lusting eyes, and are torn apart viciously limb by limb through methods of public humiliation if they are not up to society’s beauty standard.

If they are up to standard and don’t allow others to feast upon their naked flesh, then they are still ripped apart emotionally… and sometimes physically.

There is no winning; only waiting for when your time as a woman will come. The one fact that brings me peace is knowing that millions of women have gone before me, and that I do not walk through this alone.

These pieces reference Biblical terminology and Ancient Egyptian and Roman goddesses with the purpose of reminding women of the ancient sacredness of and reverence for their bodies. My goal is to present how the female body existed before it left a perfect paradise, the Garden of Eden, in a way that shows women on full, unashamed display. This is done through women’s bodies stretching and demanding space; highlighting modern-day insecurities to challenge the viewer on their own perception of beauty, with the intention of shifting the viewer’s mindset to one that can view bodies in a neutral way; a mindset tens of thousands of years before us.

Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers.