Barbie's Queer Accessories

I was incredibly excited to view the retrospective of the late Lucian Freud at the National Portrait Gallery this week. Freud's scrutinising study of the body and human form has always been of strong influence to me and my work. Throughout the exhibition, I was incredibly curious as to the frequent use of animals in his portraits, almost as if to draw some kind of parallel; in his 'Naked Man With Rat' (1977-8), the tail of the rat in the right hand of the male sitter hangs close to his penis, suggesting perhaps that they are both simply a type of appendage. It is hinted here that 'Freud did not care about gender or ego; people were simply another species of animal' (National Portrait Gallery, 2012). These ideas led me to consider the importance of such biological and physical features such as genitalia in creating identity. Wanting to develop my earlier experimentation into the manipulation of the doll's body, I moulded my sculpted penis onto the body of the Barbie whose arms created the appendage. The use of paper mache, for me reminiscent of childhood crafts and television shows such as 'Art Attack', is highlighted by the use of metallic silver spray, heightening the awareness of texture, material and process. Inspired by the fragmented and distorted dolls of Hans Bellmer, I wanted to move away from the human like quality of the doll and create something separate, and almost alien. Here, the almost absurd sight of such a recognised cultural item with a penis forces us to question why we are willing to accept that this inanimate figure is female, despite her lack of vagina, hormones and reproductive system.

'Barbie's Queer Accessories' and details (2012) Barbie doll, paper mache, spray paint