The images in Hana Rotchild's newest art exhibition look both foreign and familiar, like colourful Rorschach ink blots. One resembles a brightly-hued pomegranate; another a moth; while yet another looks like a bird in flight.
But these 28 images represent something much more provocative and personal.
Rotchild is the artist behind the "VIProject" — or the Vulva Imprints Project. The exhibit, currently on display at You Me Gallery on James Street North, features imprints of women's most intimate body parts.
Despite the controversial subject matter, the images are far from obscene or anatomical. And, as Rotchild points out, women's bodies are hardly groundbreaking subject matter for the art world.
"Museums are full of naked women — but it's an objectification. It's men looking at women," she said. "This is the other way around."
Rotchild provided each of the participants — who ranged in age from 16 to 90 — with a plastic plate, acrylic paint, and a sheet of paper. The women poured the paint into the plate, sat on the plate, then sat on the paper to make their imprints.
"Each piece is different. These are the women's choices of colour — it holds their stories," she said.
While more than 50 women made imprints for the project, Rotchild chose 28 of the most compelling images to display for her exhibition. The remaining images are also available to view at the gallery.