Stages, stuffed animals, mints, approx. 3,500 pins, white bucket, mud, trash, makeup, Mrs. Potato lips, hot glue, approx. 25 in X 25 in X 10 ½ in, 2017
Stages expresses my five emotional stages during sexual abuse as a child. The stuffed animal to start the cycle is the bunny wearing clothes. She represents the innocents of a child, but has a scent of a mint candy. I replaced her stuffing with the mints in her whole body. I used the specific mints that I was bribed with in this stuffed animal, although this made it harder to complete Stages. The second stage is the bunny with approximately 3,500 pins. The sharp end of the pins are facing to the outside on the back, while they are punctured into its eyes and crossed through the mouth. The use of pins refer to the emotional pain, the sensation of being paralyzed due to the shock, but also eyes that were tainted at a young age, and being told to not tell anyone. The third stage is a bear in a bucket of mud. This is in refence to feeling gross and dirty due to the actions forced upon me. The forth stage is a bunny in a grocery bag filler with trash. Emotional thought would run through my mind, thinking that I was garbage, unwanted, and unloved. In the fifth stage there is a bear with makeup, Mrs. Potatoe lips and clothes, in which the shirt says “Bear your heart.” The makeup is a representation for covering up my emotions and pain I was going through. The shirt states it perfectly to not only sum up, but also for the stages to repeat. Repeating the stages creates a cycle, which is expresses through the display on a round table, causing the viewer to go in circles. The table and dingy tablecloth key into location of abuse, a home.
Not for sale
