Ashley Whitt: MONSTROUS/FEMININE

From 500X:

“MONSTROUS/FEMININE is a solo exhibition by Ashley Whitt and explores the female body and mind as grotesque, beautiful, powerful, and terrifying. Drawing from my research on horror films, the grotesque, personal experiences with mental disorders (depression/anxiety/PTSD), and the reality of being a woman in 2023 living in Texas, my interests and experiences are woven and twisted into an amalgamation of photography, video, sculptural installations, and handmade books. Resin casts of my body parts are arranged in the gallery as a fragmented self-portrait. Large-scale paper mache sculptures covered in wallpaper and resin and soft fabric sculptures depict internal and external organs (uterus, teeth, hands, tongues) and exist within the gallery with corresponding videos that visualize the interior thoughts and spaces of the mind. As the Blonde Redhead lyric goes, “now inside and outside are matching.”

On July 24, 2022, abortion was outlawed in Texas following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wade. This reality impacts millions of women, not just in Texas, but across the United States where 14 states now banned all abortion. What does it feel like to be a woman living in the United States in 2023? The monster, no matter the gender, signifies the boundary between human and non-human. To me, this is what it feels like to be a woman in 2023. I am the monster.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by Barbara Creed’s book, The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, and Psychoanalysis. While reading Creed’s book, I was struck by her theories about women and their portrayal as monstrous in horror films. Creed argues that woman does not terrify because she is castrated (as Freud suggests) but instead, terrifies because of a fear that SHE MIGHT CASTRATE as well as the fear of the female reproductive system. This concept of the monstrous-feminine became the crux of my current project.

MONSTROUS/FEMININE is on view at 500X from July 22-August 6, 2023. The opening reception is July 22nd from 7-10 pm. 500X is located in West Dallas on 516 Fabrication Street, Dallas, TX, 75212. The gallery is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-5 pm.”