Romy Yedidia Explores The Body As Contested Space

We live in a world where the female body is contested space: In the 21st century, a woman’s body is still not her own. Women stand bombarded by concepts of the perfect figure, and for whose benefit? In Romy Yedidia’s ‘Preserve x 186’, she takes this concept of perception and ownership and casts them as part of a performative sculpture series using her own body.

“Everyday I stumble upon close-up images of ‘perfect’ female body parts; perky, smooth, sculpted objects,” Yedidia explains. “Each of these fragments looks like it was cast “Everyday I stumble upon close-up images of ‘perfect’ female body parts.”into a silky smooth mold.” Drawing from this concept of the casting perfection, Yedidia has created a body of work that consists of floating body parts. No cast is of the body as a whole. Nor are the pieces are not joined together to create a full figure. Instead, in this performative series, you witness the jarring dislocation the artist feels between herself and her body.“‘Preserve x 186’ is my response to… perpetual brainwash”, Yedidia explains. Both process and performance of the casting was an attempt to materialize the pain caused by the constant objectification of women, and the “expectation of them to remain silent.”