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Document Type

Image

Publication Date

Spring 2020

Keywords

sculpture, mixed media, installation, fiber art, textiles, weaving, tapestry, loom, sperm donation, fabric, donor conceived, sperm bank

Abstract

Earlier this year I found out I was conceived through a sperm donor.

While I asked many questions and researched obsessively, the only thing I was able to imagine was this anonymous man, my biological father, masturbating in a doctor’s office selling his sperm to my parents. I began reading about the experience of “donating” sperm and the way the fertility industry works.

Because my conception story was kept from me my whole life, I find it liberating to create unapologetically large plushy objects that expose every part of the process, even down to how much my parents paid for me.

Within the gallery space, I am recreating the waiting room and sperm donation room my biological father used. Large scale soft sculptures and crocheted porn mixed with untouched mass-produced items exist hand in hand within the sperm covered space, depicting the duality of Sterile and Erotic that the space teeters on.

This is my self- generated “memory” of my biological dad.

I use colorful and tactile textiles and fabrics as a vehicle to make my work more approachable, while the topics behind the works are rarely discussed.

The waiting room acts as a literal period of time where I am waiting for my questions to be answered. As I wait to find out about my own identity, all I have are vague clues on this lonely journey.

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Children of sperm donors; Sperm banks; Waiting rooms; Foam--In art; Mixed media sculpture--Themes, motives; Installations (Art)

Genre/Form

student projects; mixed media; sculpture (visual works); textile art (visual works)

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

image/jpeg

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Keywords

sculpture, mixed media, installation, fiber art, textiles, weaving, tapestry, loom, sperm donation, fabric, donor conceived, sperm bank

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