‘If only I would be a flower’ is a celebration of nature yet it is a longing to be celebrated for the beauty we naturally inhibit. It is a play with the edges of censorship and an anticipation for the freedom that is awaiting us.
Since 'Flower of Life', we have been exploring and exposing the cultural misunderstanding of the vagina. Playboy Germany selected Marisa as one of the 50 artists to art direct a cover for their 50th anniversary issue. We felt this collaboration would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the vulva and to evoke curiosity and change from within. Mainstream media is in critical need of a more truthful view of women and femininity. We proposed ‘Flower of Life’, but Playboy’s lawyers advised against it — a vulva cannot be publicly displayed on newstands. So we countered with a concept that would playfully mock censorship. What if we would cover Marisa’s flower with thousands of tiny flowers? Playboy enthusastically said yes. In collaboration with the masterful digital artist Nejc Polovsak we rendered our original image and adhered 30,000+ flowers in different stages of blooming — becoming the first vulva in history on the cover of Playboy.
Paradoxically this artwork still couldn’t evade the control & censorship of the monolith that is Instagram. It was removed within hours of posting. The fact that we have to censor any part of our body is inhumane but it is funny how a nipple covered with a single flower is fine but a completely covered vagina is banned.
MODEL - MARISA
PHOTOGRAPER - MICHAEL
ART DIRECTORS - MARISA & MICHAEL
DIGITAL ARTIST - TWISTEDPOLY (www.twistedpoly.com)
‘If only I would be a flower’ is available for sale as an NFT in two variations — one still and one animated. It is also for sale as a limited edition fine art print - facemount acrylic 5mm.
'If only I would be a flower' was exhibited in the group exhibition 'The New Ark' in Bangkok, Sept 2022 and at Art Miami 2023.
if only I would be a flower
I would not be separate
I would be amid
I would be from
I would be in
the kinetic grass would sway against my form
and intuitively I would move as well
we would move together to the rhythm of the loving mysterious heartbeat of life
I would greet everything with the beauty I have forever absorbed to nourish others
I would open for the light of heavens to seep through me
because to participate in opening is to touch the greatest grace
however,
today, I am nature embodied abloom
tomorrow, I will be a flower
today, I grace you with the love I have basked in during many lifetimes
tomorrow, I will talk to you about the cycles of life
today, I remember the freedom of my sovereign body
tomorrow, my petals will taste the sweetness of giving clouds
today, my roots stretch and belong to the deep wise earth
tomorrow, I will open
today, I live and grow among nature
tomorrow, my beauty will belong too