The figure is something very relative; every figure has its own story.  Being infatuated with my puppy, named Apple, I decided to portray a figure of a dog for this piece.  She is my kindred spirit of the animal world, and the Apple of My Eye. She is sweet, spunky, and longs for freedom.  When she recently got spayed, I spent two weeks by her side, day and night.  Watching her go through the trauma and healing was very moving to me.  I felt even closer to her and needed to express my love for not only her, but also love and respect I feel for all females of every kind of being. 

The body of the dog figure is made from found objects such as straw, wood ash, and dog hair mixed with plaster and covering a steel frame.  The body signifies the past (with wood ash being significant to this aspect) as well as the fragility of the female body, specifically mine.  Adding straw to the plaster made the figure more fragile, and I also hoped to make the body seem earthly, and able to deteriorate.  I made it hollow instead of whole to show an empty volume.  The hair of my dogs applied on top of the wet plaster helped to signify once again the deterioration of the body and what is left behind.

I decided to make the head out of ceramic, a more permanent material but also fragile. The color is bright, feminine, but also sickly and frightening.  I chose these colors because I wanted to not only draw attention to the head, but to make sure to create an ill-at-ease feeling. The dog’s head is formed into a scared, fearful, and angry shape.  Its mouth is open to scream or bark with its ears back in fear or anger. The head signifies my adult self and the female I’ve become due to the oppression of masculinity throughout my life. 

The final found objects added to the piece are the ribbons and bows.  Pink, sparkly ribbon escape the dog’s body and mouth, screaming its femineity and power, showing the world it will never back down.