Table of Con­tents | Arti­cle doi: 10.17742/IMAGE.BR.11.1.6 | PDF

Broken

Vanes­sa Greaves
Bro­ken
Artist: Vanes­sa Greaves
Pho­tog­ra­ph­er: Jacque­line Juba
Mate­ri­als: Wire and concrete

Artist Statement

This piece embod­ies both the strength and fragili­ty of the female body. As women, our iden­ti­ty can be con­nect­ed to our phys­i­cal beings. Much cul­tur­al sig­nif­i­cance is giv­en to breasts as being sym­bol­ic of fem­i­nin­i­ty and sexuality.

But we can­not always con­trol the nar­ra­tives of our lives. When breasts don’t phys­i­cal­ly con­form to what is cul­tur­al­ly assigned as beau­ti­ful, the impact can be felt to the core.

This piece seeks to illus­trate the strength and beau­ty that is found with­in, chal­leng­ing tra­di­tion­al ideas and, in the process, reimag­in­ing and redefin­ing the body. With its stark aes­thet­ic, Bro­ken invites us to recon­struct our views on the phys­i­cal breast, embrac­ing beau­ty and strength in all forms.