For this sculpture, I repurposed donated and purchased quilts and afghans to construct a  large-scale sculpture of a penis and testicles. The sculpture stood eight feet tall, seven feet wide,  and three feet in depth. The quilts and afghans were cut up and sewn back together to portray the final object.

In American society, there is an abundance of phallic objects and imagery, from  monuments to skyscrapers, and an overall belief that this represents power. I countered this idea  by making the penis sculpture flaccid and soft. Through sewing, I am referencing the aesthetic hierarchy that deems certain forms of art making as “high art” or “low art” because of the gender  associations that are placed on the method of art making.

Simone de Beauvoir said, “man is  defined as human being and woman as a female--whenever she behaves as a human being, she is  said to imitate the male.” With this sculpture, my intent was to challenge both the idea that an  erect penis signifies power and that certain mediums or methods of art making are superior or  inferior to one another.