​L'Origine, Plucked, 2018
attendant, green curtain, stanchions, AudioConexus Audio 3 Guide and audio, plucked pubic hair, black chaise, white sheet, the artist's clothes on a hanger
performance duration: variable
audio duration: 2'10"

L'Origine, Plucked (2018) investigates Joanna Hiffernan, the infamous model for Courbet's L'Origine du Monde (1866). Viewers form a queue, and are permitted one at a time to gaze at my pubic region. In preparation for the performance, I plucked my pubic hair into an abstract, geometrical design. While in the room with me, viewers listen to a speculative biography for Hiffernan on an museum industry standard audio guide. The performance concludes by speaking aloud to each viewer, "I grew mine out for months before I plucked."

Performed at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in Calgary, AB on January 12, 2018, for the performance festival "IKG Live 2".
Photo: Jeremy Pavka.