“Om”, Self photographed in 2006.
Original description, added to DeviantArt in a rare response to the comments the image received.
I’ve had a few people politely comment that they feel this piece is inappropriate, or would be inappropriate in some countries. I appreciate their viewpoints and respect that not all people will find my art appropriate, and suppose I should explain in greater detail since this piece seems to bring questions to light. Normally, I leave my pieces to evolve in the mind of the viewer with little direction. But I’ll make an exception.
Om, symbol of the absolute, the be all end all of everything, is a very philosophical and intense symbol which I have chosen with great care in this androgynous piece celebrating my body, mind and spirit. Thankfully I live in a country which will allow for me to express myself in this way, even if it is turning into a deranged festering shithole in others.
I used the Om because I felt it fitting placed on the breast and heart of a strong, other worldly woman with the balls to display what she is in addition to having the breasts to feed your sons and daughters. Breasts that are then forced to be covered and hidden away because of the fearful manipulation of the men who think they rule this world and attempt to dominate the women in it through oppression, abuse and fear. I feel it is a showcasing of the power and wonder that all women hold within themselves and so very often hide away, to the point that they in fact forget what awesome power they carry within them every moment of the day.
My deviation “Om” is my humble artistic stand against the oppression of all women in all countries and, I feel, a proper illustration of the be all end all of everything. She is ghostly to encompass all women, androgynous to encompass all sexuality, with dark, tortured, deep and thoughtful eyes. She is bound by the hand but not by the spirit, and she is growing more and more pissed at the treatment of women in this world, her rage building. You can see the oppressed womans great pain as well as her strength and her eventual wrath. She is silent, appearing almost at peace, but watching. Waiting. The sight of her brings fear to some. And it should.
I think it’s bullshit that the givers of life are raped, beaten, oppressed, discarded, mutilated, forced to cover their faces, sold into slavery, abused, ignored, and belittled because the sons they have brought to the world are afraid. “Om” is for every woman who has been beaten by her father, raped by a man because she was ‘so pretty’, passed up for a job because she has breasts, eaten last because it’s ‘her place’, been forced to fuck for money, had her clit cut off because her pleasure is sin, or otherwise been touched by the skewed reality of the days world views on female humanity. The only thing I wish I could have done differently was use a model who had obviously breast fed, but since I do self photography that was not possible.
The Om symbol has great meaning and depth both to myself as well as those whos culture it derives from. I do not feel that I should censor myself based upon the issues other people have with breasts, expression, a womans power or a womans form, and I find it rather ironic that the symbol for creation would be censored from the breast of a creator. But the world would be quite boring if we all thought the same way, now wouldn’t it.
In a nutshell, I chose to celebrate divinity rather than hide it under a fucking tarp when I created this piece. I hope that clears everything up. If it doesn’t, or you want to hear more, I invite you to check out my friend Ana’s journal entry, created a couple weeks after I did Om. Her clarity of thought is in large part responsible for my ability to explain the meaning of “Om” in this edit and, hopefully, answer your questions.
I don’t usually talk about my deep social and humanist ideals because it feels weird, and if it feels weird to talk about I generally express it artistically in some kind of interpretable way rather than trying to string words together to say what has already been said by someone else. I prefer to provoke free thought with my art rather than say what someone should think about it myself. I’ll be glad to go back to doing that, after this feeble attempt at verbally expressing what this piece means to me. Feel free to continue to allow it to mean whatever it means to you.
