Ohpelia- Vulva Sculpture

Ophelia was another of Shakespeare's obedient daughters. She bent to the will of her father, her brother and finally her abusive love interest Hamlet. All of these men had something to say about Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet and her virginity. Finally, after never having a voice of her own and with the pressure of her marriage and virginity being tested in the opposite directions from the men she is supposed to defer to- she goes mad and drowns herself. In the midst of her madness she sings a bawdy song about a maiden who is tricked into losing her virginity with a false promise of marriage Ophelia is set into a deep shell, sculpted in pale shimmering pearl and cream. She is surrounded by the flowers she began to give away in her mad scene- two yellow rue flowers and the clustered flowers of the wormwood plant- both which were used at the time in abortion tinctures. The resin water that covers her is accented with two real water lily leaves. The piece and the flowers are lightly brushed over with 'dirt' from the bottom of the lake, the water itself a dark murky green. This piece is lovely and different in that to really, truly appreciate it- she has to be looked at closely. She can't be glanced at to be fully appreciated.