Hide & Peek
Hide & Peek was an installation piece and part of my graduate project Normalising Nudity.
As part of my research process I began to ask people to draw themselves naked for me. It was interesting to see how uncomfortable some people were about a small doodle of their body. I gave no guidelines and I believe that the way people draw themselves shows how they feel about their body. Some stood proud, some covered themselves and a few decapitaed themselves.
I took these drawings and transferred them onto a shower curtain - the shower being neutral nude space. Behind the curtain I had two large vinyl stickers. The stickers were a man and woman whose bodies had been warped around the breasts and genitals to reflect the warped attitudes we have about our bodies.
The best part was watching people, especially children, play and interact with this piece.
I had a DRAW YOURSELF NAKED station and submission box accompanying this piece. The point of the exercise was to take a moment to think about your own body, non-sexually, and visualise it. I hope that this process encouraged people to think about their body’s physicality. Over the duration of the Graduate Show I received over 300 naked drawings.
Jessie de Boe 2022 ©