Why are we making Vagina China?
Our work is inspired in many ways by our first art hero, Judy Chicago, whom we affectionately refer to as “The Godmother of Vagina China.” Her monumental feminist art piece, The Dinner Party, brought awareness to women in history and addresses questions related to “high-art” verses the “low art” status of women’s work and craft.
The Vagina China project takes the baton and seeks to delve deeper into questions beyond our gender by adopting an intersectional approach. While these plates are works of art, they also function as an entry point into a larger cultural conversation, utilizing the vital role that art plays in shaping thought, shifting conventional thinking, and engaging in deeper questions that ignite conversation around what is an unfairly taboo subject.
From the personal to the political, everyone's reason for participating is different.
Though the political landscape initially motivated the rapid growth of this project, we soon realized the potency of gathering together as women to create art, share what is in our hearts, to literally be part of a larger art project—and of course, to celebrate the vagina, which is often objectified, but rarely revered.
Some additional reasons why we are making Vagina China:
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The vital role that art plays in shaping thought and shifting conventional thinking.
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By sharing this work, we are helping to normalize and celebrate the diversity in shape, size and figure of the vulva.
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To ignite conversation and collectively divest the societal and personal shame we have in relationship to our vulvas, vaginas, and womanhood.
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The potency of being seen, heard, and in community with other women.
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To make art that honors women and the organ that brought us into the world.
The following issues have greatly motivated this project:
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Why is Labiaplasty (the reduction or removal of the inner and/or outer labia) one of the fastest growing surgeries in the world? We are against body shaming in all forms and we believe that we all have the right to do what we want with our body. We want to help build women's self esteem through our project by displaying the beauty and wide diversity of our bodies so that women considering the procedure can make informed decisions based on what real women look like.
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Why are an estimated 200 million women and girls alive today still inflicted with female genital mutilation? We stand against this procedure with no health benefits. The United Nations and the World Health Organization recognize FGM as a human rights violation. It can cause severe health complications, including damage to organs and problems during urination, menstruation, and childbirth.
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Why are a bunch of old, white men STILL making the decisions for women's health care and enacting legislation that is disempowering to women, is anti-choice, and recent actions on women’s health will cause deaths around the globe.
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Why is there still so much discrimination, misogyny, abuse, assault, harassment, rape, violence, shaming, gaslighting and silencing of women? Our art-making process provides a safe and supportive space for speaking one's truth and healing. Our vaginas belong to us and the personal is political.
