Kelli Damron
ceramic sculptor
Welcome
As an overweight adolescent, teen and now as an adult my body image has been a daily struggle. In today’s society, image is everything. I believe that most people are in total denial of their body, while I have always been hyper aware of my body – each nook and cranny, how much space it takes up, where it will and will not fit. Like most people, especially young women, I am constantly trying to figure out where I fit in with today’s unrealistic body types. I am constantly inundated with images of emaciated bodies – today’s standard of beauty – compounding my feelings of inadequacy and self-consciousness. My work is a direct reflection of this struggle.
I work with the voluptuous female figure. I relate to and am captivated by the way the rolls of the body move and stack upon each other. The undulating movement is hypnotic, rhythmic. I get lost in the ebb and flow of the figure as my eyes move into and out of the waves of flesh. When I look in the mirror I don’t see a model or the boy-like stick figure that is considered to be the ideal. But I do see something beautiful.
The plus size woman as an object of beauty has been represented in art from the beginning of time. Through the ages artists have worshipped this robust figure of femininity and celebrated the strength and beauty of all that is inherently woman. She has been painted, carved, sculpted, and modeled by the earliest known inhabitants of this planet. Historically speaking she was the “IT” girl. She represented life, abundance, prosperity, sensuality, sexuality, and ultimate beauty.
Today’s pop culture, especially the fashion industry, has played a major role in portraying the voluptuous female as unhealthy and unattractive; it has recreated an idea of beauty that is an extreme opposite of the past. I would like to propose an alternative to the gaunt female figure that is worshipped by society today. How about a happy, healthy, plump and yes, sexy woman?
My own views on the female figure and beauty are obviously different from those of the culture that surrounds me. Through my sculpture, I hope to re-establish a link to past ideals of what is considered beautiful. I want to create a view and ideal of beauty that is completely my own. I use full, round, and curvaceous female forms to reflect the sublime power of my own body and define my personal ideal of what feminine beauty really is.
In my most recent work I have begun to abstract parts of the body and combine them with fruit or floral forms, specifically orchids, to create my own personal narrative. The pieces begin to morph into a hybrid of body, fruit, and flower. On the simplest level they directly relate to my own ideas about sexuality and life. On yet another, I feel that these forms relate to the ideal of the past that I hold in such high regard.
site info
© 2001-2006 Kelli Damron. Design by Andreas Viklund.