Hanging by a Petal & Stapled Apart & Bound & Debris

There are four more watercolor paintings I would like to talk about that I created for my thesis. They are in much the same vein as the last two I talked about (the ones from yesterday's post) - each of them uses flowers as a symbol for female genitalia or female sexuality so that I could raise awareness and start discussions about female sexual assault, rape, and female genital mutilation (FGM), among other things.

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(Purchase Hanging by a Petal through my Etsy shop!)

"Hanging by a Petal" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 30"x22"

For Hanging by a Petal, I again used safety pins to mutilate a set of roses. The two roses are currently held together with pins, and their petals show perforations and scars from earlier assault attempts. As I wrote in my thesis, "the petal in the foreground - stabbed with safety pins so many times that it cannot stay attached to the rest of the flower - is starting to unravel, the piles of petals giving evidence to the unfortunate future of the rose."

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(Purchase Stapled Apart through my Etsy shop!)

"Stapled Apart" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 22"x30"

Stapled Apart shows rose petals that were assaulted with numerous staples. The palette in this one is not the pinks, yellows, and violets that I used in most of the rest of the series. Instead, I experimented with darker colors, browns, and sickly yellow-greens. In my thesis I wrote: "While creating my other pieces, I feared that pleasant colors would cause confusion about what the paintings were about. I worried that Pinned for Safety, Hanging by a Petal, and Stabbed might be too “pretty” – that viewers would think I was advocating or even celebrating violence with them. The darker, more neutral colors look more sinister. However, I quickly returned to the more saturated pinks, yellows, and violets for my remaining watercolors because I am more drawn to saturated colors and want to attract viewers. I wanted the color palette – if nothing else – to seem celebratory and hopeful."

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(Purchase Bound through my Etsy shop!)

"Bound" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 30"x22"

Bound depicts a rose bound in rubber bands, literally restricting it from fulfilling its purpose to act as a reproductive agent for the plant, as well as its purpose to be aesthetically pleasing. These limitations could reference physically violent genital restriction (e.g. FGM), or emotionally or psychologically restrictive social norms placed on expressions of female sexuality, as I talked about in the post with the "hesitant" flowers that had chosen to cover themselves with caution tape.

As I said in my thesis: "Even when no sexual abuse has occurred, women are often taught that their genitalia are unclean or shameful, and should be covered up and avoided at all times... Vaginismus is only one of several sexual disorders women may acquire due to societal restrictions on sexuality. A woman with vaginismus is so afraid of vaginal penetration that an involuntary spasm of the muscles surrounding the vagina blocks any attempt at entry; the spasms can even be triggered by just thinking about something (a penis, a tampon, medical instruments needed to conduct pap smears) entering the vagina. Though physical causes may also contribute, the majority of vaginismus cases are caused by any of numerous psychological issues: anxiety about being vulnerable, losing control, or getting pregnant; fear or anticipation of intercourse pain; performance pressures; negativity toward and guilt about sex; past emotional or sexual abuse; overly rigid parenting; unbalanced religious teaching; and inadequate sex education."

It is interesting, I think, to note that there is no way for this rose to have completely bound itself in those rubber bands without outside assistance. Unlike Silk Caution and Poisoned Rose, which I talked about previously, the rose is being restricted by objects outside of itself.

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(Purchase Debris through my Etsy shop!)

"Debris" by Andrea Arbit - Watercolor painting on paper, 22"x30"

Finally, we come to the last painting in this thesis series. In Debris, I do not include any evidence of what destroyed the flower; the focus is instead on the aftermath - the debris of destruction, or perhaps simply the wilting of old age. "My palette is hopeful and suggests that life will eventually renew itself – there will be other roses. I hope that with each passing year, more women and girls will find empowerment in their bodies and sexuality."

Five years after writing those words, I'm still working on my own empowerment. I do think I'll get there - as long as I keep trying to get there. I haven't made nearly as much progress in unlocking my self-confidence as I'd hoped I would have by now - but only because I've become complacent. When something is shrouded in shame and embarrassment, it's easier to avoid it than it is to work on it. Consistency is key.

Don't forget to check out my Etsy shop for these paintings and others in this thesis series!