Files
Download Thumbnail Sheet (3.3 MB)
Download One of my first works this semester Experimenting with carving women into fruits (113 KB)
Download One of my first works this semester. Experimenting still with carving the body but leavign smaller parts of the body out and less carving (118 KB)
Download Depicts a woman stretching, arm over the breast. Using more textured glazing to despict more emotion (789 KB)
Download Startign to zoom in on works. Shows a womens leg bent (878 KB)
Download Shows a knee. Working with more vibrant colors and stains to promote a more interesting form. Started to spray glaze on and smear it to create more interested works. (1.9 MB)
Download Displaying insecurities on a smaller level. This depicts veiny hands, something often seen as masculine, on a pumpkin, which it often seen as a vegtable. (1.6 MB)
Download Made an ear, however when turned to the side it looks like a belly button. I made this on a pumkin to once again dispay somethign that is often mistaken as a vetgtable. (1.8 MB)
Download Made an finger on a mango. I did this to show parts of the body that are not seen as something people judge/ objectify. I think the coloraion of the mago helped with this idea (2.7 MB)
Download Displaying more volumous body shapes on smaller fruitson yellow mangos, something (2.3 MB)
Download Working on making humanized forms on fruits without specifying what I am showing. Did this as an experiment to see if people would notice that it did not actually depict a body part. Once again did this on a pumpkin form (2.5 MB)
Download The back side of a more volumous women. One of the first pieces I am were it was harder to read what the audience was staring at, therefore making you look longer at the piece (2.4 MB)
Download A close up of the texture on one of my pieces (370 KB)
Download One of the last pears I did. Used underglaze that I made whichshowed more vibrant. Put the glaze on thinner causing it to show more dryly (128 KB)
Download Full body carved out on an apple. Used to experiment with stains and glazes. Helped me know I wanted more vibrant pieces (1.5 MB)
Download Screenshot_29-4-2025_12526_.jpeg (220 KB)
Academic Level at Time of Creation
Junior
Date of Creation
Spring 5-9-2025
Artist Statement
Artist Statement
Fruits have long been used as a metaphor for women, reducing them to symbols of ripeness, sweetness, or fertility. Fruit is scientifically defined as “the fleshy or dry ripened ovary” of a plant. However, with my experience with making ceramic sculptures, I continue to find more and more similarities between the two that I wish for those around me to discover as well. My work is an experimentation on how the female body can be portrayed through fruit and how beauty is subjective.
In developing these artworks, I study fruit shapes and women figures combining coil building with carving to shape fruit figures. I am focusing on “zooming in” on the figure to have the audience decipher what I am showing and why. I study how different body types in the same position differ, and make them into sculptures to make my audience see them and compare them to fruit you would buy at a fruit market.
In Spring of 2024, I looked into Jessica Stoller whose work deals with idealized femininity and objectification. Her sculptures work with the female body and food, making comparisons more with desserts. Upon researching Jessica Stoller, I quickly became inspired by Feminization Theory which talks about how femininity is framed through a variety of contexts such as age, sexuality, body size, style, and culture. Femininity is defined differently by people based on their beliefs in the contexts mentioned above. However, many of these are passed down beliefs, and it influenced me to let my audience know how they observe/objectify.
My most recent inspiration has been Daniel Maidmen, a 2-D artist who focuses on drawing figures. I take inspiration from his female portrait poses, which focus on the curves and form of the female figure. He purposefully sketches voluminous poses such as stretches, bending down, and fetal positions
Advisor/Mentor
Rebecca Williams, John Utgaard, Jeane Beaver, Zbynek Smetana, Mike Martin
Description
My sculptures explore the parallels between fruit and the female body, questioning societal perceptions of beauty. I emphasize different body types and encourage viewers to analyze the objectification of women.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Pender, Cheyenne L., "Profession Practice Portfolio Spring 2025" (2025). Professional Practices (ART 399). 183.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/183