Every day I stumble upon close-up images of ‘perfect’ female body parts; perky, smooth, sculpted objects. Each of these fragments looks like it was cast into a silky smooth mold. These floating body parts have neither context nor gravity.

 

The way mainstream media represents body image and its meaning quite often displays only an overly sexualized portrayal of femininity. To deprive femininity of any contextual substance, and assign it only to a basic function of being a visual commodity for the public, is to reinsure perpetuation of one-sided, unequal, distorted constructs that do not offer any space nor potential for further growth. These circumstances situate women in a malignant, comparative position between what is imposed as a normalized image of femininity, and what they truly are.

 

‘Preserve x 186’ is a sculpture series that was performed through long molding sessions of the artist’s body parts in public. By materializing the pain of remaining in one position, Yedidia reflects on the constant objectification of women and the expectation of them to remain silent.