Wound woman performance, 2023
Sciesslhaus Air, Kollnburg
Duration: 00:10:00
Video documentation: Olsen Wolf
The multimedia installation WOUND WOMAN consists of a video documentation of the performance of the same name and a metal trap sculpture titled TRAP. The artwork initiates a power-dynamics dialogue.
WOUND WOMAN draws upon the archetype of the “Vagina Dentata” – a symbol found in the mythology of various cultures and in feminist psychology. The vagina with teeth represents female power and male fears. The symbol is often associated with Freud’s concept of castration anxiety and reflects male insecurity about being disempowered by female sexuality. The Vagina Dentata serves as a deterrent example of the potential dangers of sexual encounters with women [1]. In her work, Mariia combines this symbolism with an interpretation of the tradition of “Waldpurgisnacht” particularly practiced in Bavaria. During one of the rituals, evil spirits are driven away, typically by women, through nocturnal cracking of whips and loud cries. The project establishes a connection between the “scarring with the image of woman,” the “scarring with the image of wound,” and the “scarring with the image of vagina.” The unconventional concept of female rage is juxtaposed with the violence rooted in phallocentric and patriarchal societal systems.
[1] Verrier, E. (1943): The Vagina Dentata Legend, in British Journal of Medical Psychology, Vol. 19, pp. 439-453.