IntraVenus
Female Icons: it’s not the gaze but the looks is a fascinating project by De Geuzen: a foundation for multi-visual research, that explores what makes a woman an icon through a rich variety of means, including workshops, streaming lectures, online data collecting and new media works on view such as She… by Renee Turner and my own IntraVenus.
In December 2007 Renee interviewed me about IntraVenus for the Female Icons archive. I reproduce it here:
The Interview
Renee Turner: Can you give me a little background on IntraVenus, meaning what your impetus was to make the work?
Christine Wilks: I created the images some time ago when I was a young art student. At the time I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the predominance of the female nude throughout art history and felt the pressure of this archetypal image (exacerbated by being taught by an almost entirely male staff) was interfering with my ability to visualise myself as a practising artist. I wanted to explore this, to get inside the image and challenge it directly with my own body. I was quite surprised when the images turned out to look so violent, the way my body looked so battered and bruised. It was disturbing, but all the more fitting since my self-image as an artist was bruised. Read More
