Sleeping On Pearls
light - sculpture
manufactured in 2024
22 x 14 CM / E27
stone-plaster, clay
emulsion painted
waterproof varnis

In the late 1630’s legends about pig-headed women appeared around the same time in the Netherlands, England and France. These stories were about wealthy women with human bodies and the head of a pig.

In the earliest versions of these stories, their pig-like appearance was attributed to witchcraft. After the wedding day, the husband of the pig-headed woman had to choose for her : should his wife appear beautifully human only to him and pig-headed to the eyes of everyone else, or the other way around ? Only if her husband decided to leave the choice to her, the spell would break and her pig-like appearance would fall away.
How much autonomy to her own appearance and body has a woman nowadays close to 400 years later?

Imbedded questions about society / gender / norms / power / hierarchies / judgements / evaluation of female purpose / superficiality / indifference in value of bodily autonomy and crossing of boundaries