olympe/méduse
2019
object
Both Olympia de Gouges and mythical Medusa were beheaded by their executioners. Both were beautiful, strong women which made them uncomfortable for many people. After Medusa's death, the blood from her body still had the power to resurrect and kill. Likewise, the execution of Olimpia de Gouges, an unconventional writer and activist, did not silence her words, which are still valid and quoted after more than two hundred years. A corset-clad mannequin is a symbol of a woman who becomes a fashion victim, a sexual object who is required to look perfect without giving her many rights in exchange. Women during the French Revolution were dependent on the wealth of their husbands, who often left them for younger women. They were treated as objects, nobody cared about the fate of single, abandoned mothers and their children. The red chain choker is a reference to the Bals des victimes, victims’ balls organised for the families of people who were guillotined during the French Revolution. Olympia de Gouges' fight for women's rights is a daring act of courage, an attitude that was unheard of at that time.
Olympe/meduse was created for the REBELLE exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.
