Appropriation
Reinterpreting Archetypes
"Venus Incarnis" weaves together two powerful yet seemingly contradictory symbols to create new meaning. Explore how the work deconstructs and reframes the Willendorf Venus and the Caganer, transforming them into vehicles for a dialogue around fertility, decomposition, and the sacredness of the body.
The Archetypes
The Willendorf Venus
An ancient symbol of fertility and the mother goddess, here reinterpreted to embrace the totality of the female body.
The work appropriates the archetype of fertility but strips it of idealization. Retaining the "full curves," it emphasizes the creative power of the female body, situating it within its full biological reality, including the baby (birth) and excrement (cycle of life). It rejects a sanitized fertility, advocating for the "acceptance of our wholeness" and restoring the goddess through the acceptance of her material nature.
The Caganer
A traditional Catalan figure symbolizing the fertilization of the earth, used here to confront the taboo of defecation.
By adopting the posture of the Caganer, the work leverages its dual symbolism. First, its traditional role of fertilizing the earth, where "waste" becomes a source of life, as sprouting seeds attest. Second, its modern role as an "equalizer" of ordinary people with famous figures. Placing the sacred figure of Venus in this humble, earthy posture, the work grounds the abstract ideal in material reality, asserting that sacredness resides also in the "dirty," vital processes.
Traditional Elements
Explore the traditional Catalan figures that inspire the work
Friends of Caganer
Traditional Catalan Caganer figures
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Caganer in Nativity
The Caganer in its traditional setting
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