^{lauren mcdougall}

P⭐️rn Collection, 2023

^{‘Porn
collection' is a series of mixed-media and collage prints, all re-appropriated
from vintage Hustler Pornography magazines.

Through
physical and digital manipulation techniques, Lauren conceals and exposes areas
of the imagery to dissect how women's bodies are presented in traditional,
mainstream, androcentric pornography whilst analysing how they are perceived
and consumed. By contrasting the prints containing visceral imagery with the
pornographic environment and behaviour – Lauren asks, 'what is more offensive?
The body or the act?'

By
re-appropriating vintage Hustler magazines, a pornographic magazine catered to
and curated for men, Lauren reclaims the presented female body and the false
sense of female identity and sexuality by creating abstracted female forms,
vacant from male dominance and desire.

The
reoccurring thread in the work is an embodiment of distress and tension. The
distress of a relentless objectifying and sexualising gaze upon female bodies
in western media, with the accompaniment of being shown as devoid of agency and
presented as a consumable object. The tight embroidery references the internal
tension of conflicting attitudes and arguments on pornography within the
feminist movement and the artist's personal views.}