Moulded: The Feminine Form

My work “Moulded: The Feminine Form” uses fishing cages, fishing nets, fish hooks and silicone as materials. The fishing cage is a symbol of the patriarchal constraints and limitations on women, linking the over-fishing and exploitation of marine life to the exploitation of the female body. I think there is an initiative and passivity to the fishing cage, and females show both initiative and passivity when confronted with social issues, whether they conform to traditional gender roles or advocate for change. I use fishhooks to link the fishing cage to the silicone so that they form a womb-like form as a whole. The fish hooks remind me of the IUD as they are similar in size and material and are both used to achieve a specific result ("Invasion" and "conquest"). One of the silicone is painted with a number of different shapes of 'IUDs', both of which can be seen as challenging patriarchal norms. The fish hook represents a departure from traditional gender roles, and the IUD represents a departure from the long-standing dominance of female reproductive choice and autonomy.