Vanessa Safavi Swiss, b. 1980
Tricks and Conflicts, 2023
Murano glass
15 x 11 x 7 7/8 in
38 x 28 x 20 cm
38 x 28 x 20 cm
Further images
This research into female and male attributes has given rise to a brand new series of three completely extravagant sculptures: cylinders of translucent glass whose ends end in huge penises...
This research into female and male attributes has given rise to a brand new series of three completely extravagant sculptures: cylinders of translucent glass whose ends end in huge penises intertwine to form improbable, wild and lively bouquets. In neon yellow (Tales of Creation, Tales of Transformation, 2022), sparkling pink (Tricks and Conflicts, 2023) or transparent purple (Tales of Ignorance, Tales of Evidence, 2023), these works play on the ambivalence of an attraction-repulsion.
The artist is inspired here by the iconography of the goddess Medusa from Greek mythology, whose hair takes the form of swarming venomous snakes and whose gaze has the power to turn anyone into stone. Initially considered monstrous, Medusa gradually became an archetype of the femme fatale, then a symbol of power claimed by the feminist movement. Her figure and her story are the source of stories about our relationship with the monstrous, the power of the feminine and the fear of castration, allusions that can be found in the sculptures of Vanessa Safavi.
– Text by Séverine Fromaigeat
The artist is inspired here by the iconography of the goddess Medusa from Greek mythology, whose hair takes the form of swarming venomous snakes and whose gaze has the power to turn anyone into stone. Initially considered monstrous, Medusa gradually became an archetype of the femme fatale, then a symbol of power claimed by the feminist movement. Her figure and her story are the source of stories about our relationship with the monstrous, the power of the feminine and the fear of castration, allusions that can be found in the sculptures of Vanessa Safavi.
– Text by Séverine Fromaigeat