| CHAPEL OF THE VAGINA
Installation, 2012 Apparently, a very long time ago people did not associate the sexual act with childbirth. One event was too distant in time from the other. Therefore, the woman was the most important person in the creation of a new life as she was capable of giving birth to a new human being. The man's role seemed unimportant. Due to that theory the woman's position in the social, political and religious life was significant. There are hypotheses speaking of the times of women's reign and the period is known as matriarchy. According to the Swiss lawyer, the creator of the theory of matriarchy Johann Jacob Bachofen, matriarchy was to be the foundation of universal liberty and equality, peace and affection, as well as care of all the members of a community. It was supposed to appreciate nature and emotionality. Female fertility - the ability to give birth to a new child, to create a new man was of a divine character. The divine aspect was also enjoyed by the gateway through which man arrived in this world, i.e. the vagina. It was a symbolic beginning of the world and a source of inspiration. Therefore, it followed that the vagina was to be respected and worshipped. Once patriarchy took over, the woman's role dramatically diminished. The vagina was burdened with blame and shame and associated with sin and impurity. My work is intended to restore the matriarchal ideas and to bring the vagina from the realm of the profane back to the sacred. (Iwona Demko) |
IWONA DEMKO
PL Iwona Demko, lives in Cracow, Poland. 1996-2001: Faculty of Sculpture, Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow, Poland. 2000: Scholarship at Ecole des Beaux-Arts et des Arts Appliques, Toulouse, France. 2001: Graduation diploma with honours. 2008: employed as an assistant lecturer in the Sculpture Studio IV in the Faculty of Sculpture of the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts. 2012: awarded the PhD degree. Participated in about 50 group exhibitions and 11 individual exhibition. |