Part of the installation COZY: various high heels made from concrete, rebar and epoxy resin, 2023.
COZY reflects on the contemporary archetype of feminine representation in Western cultures—the “boss bitch”, or in academic terms, the “neoliberal feminist”. An ideal which often equates feminine success with “having it all”. Women like Beyoncé, the Kardashians, Sheryl Sandberg, Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow embody this trope. Their shared attributes are capital, power, influence, agency, and consequently, setting impossible standards for women everywhere. COZY is a collection of concrete-filled, high-heeled shoes, where material can be read as an unsettling replacement for human flesh. These pieces question whether symbols and tools associated with feminine oppression can in fact be reclaimed as statements of empowerment.
Individual sculpture titles are cited from: Camille Rainville, ‘Be A Lady They Said’, Writings of a Furious Woman, December 9th 2017, www.writingsofafuriouswoman.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/be-a-lady-they-said.
© Romy Yedidia. Installation view Jungkunst, Halle 53, Winterthur, CH.
