The Lore of Sinners,
Cunts and Whores

Most signs of evil found in Western and non-Western societies today have one thing in common: they are based on ancient symbols of female mythological figures or archetypes*, as they are called in analytical psychology. Originally, they were used to celebrate the miracle of life, which was considered sacred.

However, over the course of some five thousand years of patriarchal culture, much that represented the female body, the female sex and reproductive organs, menstrual blood and childbirth was devalued and even banned. In the myths and fairy tales of this world, there are numerous female figures that were devalued under patriarchy.

Some examples are the serpent and the apple, which were converted from pagan symbols of female wisdom and fertility to symbols of evil in the Bible. The word sin originally meant "being" and "truth". The English word cunt is associated with cunning and craftiness, and its root meanings are „clever, powerful, create" and "gut feeling".

For the ornaments, I combine blown-out, empty eggs in cow intestines and attach them in rows on iron wire or nettle strings. These symbols of male and female archetypes intertwine in ways that raise questions about power, fragility, aggression, beauty, fertility and ritual function.

With this new series, I shed light on the immense abjection that the female body and its symbols have experienced for millennia. I explore mythological characters such as Medusa, Circe or Lilith and their symbols and create forms to celebrate them.

Adorning the body with anything that is considered too physical, too feminine, even witchy and therefore disgusting, is a provocation to patriarchal society. With these necklaces, however, my main focus is on the beauty and power of the sinner, the cunt and the whore.



*In analytical psychology, archetypes denote collective, unconscious structures of human action. In philosophy, they denote ideas and metaphysical archetypes.