One afternoon, while walking through the woods with her dog, Fran Bouwman came across something that would change her perspective and her life.
On April 20, the Walter’s Falls resident will be hosting a Viva La Flying Vulva Positivity Portal launch event at Mantra Yoga Studio in Thornbury. The portal is both an online and offline venture, where the sculptor and educator’s online videos and store are paired with workshops run out in the world with one uniting goal of creating more awareness about the vulva.
The journey to get to the project, for Bouwman, started that day in the woods.
“I saw this tree that had fallen in the forest and had split wide open. On the inside of the tree was this perfectly shaped vulva. It was incredible and stopped me in my tracks,” Bouwman recalls.
With the help of friends, Bouwman was able to remove that section of the tree from the forest, took it home and was inspired to create a sculpture with the piece of wood.
“I barely had to do anything to it. It was naturally formed by Mother Nature,” she says.
After displaying the piece in her gallery for a while, she applied to have it included in an art tour, but said she found there was “upset” and trepidation about the piece. After having it displayed in a Collingwood art gallery, she said she was asked to remove it by the gallery owners.
“It created a lot of controversy there as well. It shed some light for me on the amount of discomfort. People didn’t even feel comfortable approaching it,” she says.
“There’s a lot of discomfort around the vulva.”
Bouwman started her portal project with a goal of bringing more awareness and familiarity to the vulva. Her online videos cover a variety of topics, including the history of the vulva, anatomy and world issues surrounding the vulva, such as labiaplasty.
“I’m trying to get my head around that concern,” she says. “Generally, I’m trying to portray a positive and celebratory (feeling) around the vulva because I feel women experience a lot of pressure to conform in a lot of ways to an aesthetic.
“This part of our anatomy has been very shrouded. Most people don’t even call it a vulva.”
These days, many of Bouwman’s sculptures depict the vulva with wings in a variety of ways. While the body part has traditionally been associated with sex, Bouwman said she’d like to encourage women to look at the vulva as more than sex, and as a form of self-esteem.
“I think women struggle more with that relationship,” she says.
The launch event will include a Q&A with Bouwman where she’ll talk about the anatomy and history of the vulva, art on display, games, a contest, merchandise for sale, live music and refreshments.
“I hope people will reclaim the image in a public space,” says Bouwman. “I hope the discomfort and familiarity will be eased ... and create more open dialogue.”
Viva La Flying Vulva’s launch event takes place April 20 at Mantra Yoga Studio starting at 4:30 p.m.
For more information on the portal, click here.
