Exploring the power of female sexuality with Ranny Cooper
Submission or empowerment?
[U]nbound is a poetic series of mixed-media artworks by Ranny Cooper exploring ideas around the female body, how it is represented and the reaction it triggers.
Using simple, clean lines and simplified shapes the images verge on abstraction, Ranny triggers the viewer’s imagination and plays with the subconscious. The body is shown from a humanised and sensitive perspective, putting emphasis on the curves, lines and natural fluidity of the female form.
Including leather wear, Ranny reflects on female sexuality, using the metaphor of the harness to visualise the constraints and pressures experienced by women in regards to body image and sexual expression – becoming a powerful symbol of both submission and empowerment. We recently caught up with the Hackney-based artist to talk the female form, feminism and objectification.
Hi Ranny, can you tell us a little bit about how feminism and female identity influence your work?
My work materialises from quite a personal place, usually from dealing with issues I am confronted with in regards to the bodies, be it objectification or embracement. With ‘UNBOUND’ the title already gives away my aim of undoing initial stigma and associations of sexualisation and think about what the harness stands for, then to apply this to the body. Control.
What first made you start to explore the female form through your art?
I have always been drawn to the naked form, but it’s only in the past two years I have primarily focused my attention on the female nude. I was spurred by the taboo which was still very present in society and on social media.
Are there any artists that influence your process?
There’s a lot of artists works I like… You should take inspiration from everyone and everything. I Love Egon Schiel; his depiction of the figure is beautiful. Jean Cocteau also has a big impact; I love the simplicity of his lines. Mapplethorpe of course, he combined fetish aspects with the body and created sensual imagery.
Do you see your work as satire, a societal critique, or something else?
I have touched on ridiculing elements within my work before; I feel it’s important to humour topics that are still stigmatised. However, I approached this project from a sensitive angle, since the message that I wanted to portray is one which I feel most women and men are subjected to.
How do you feel about the idea of sex as a performance/exhibitionist act and not something that comes naturally to us?
It completely depends on the sexual partners in question – or whether it’s about connection or purely pleasure. When it’s pleasure, I feel as though it becomes more of a game of tennis, almost as if you’re pulling all the tricks out the bag. Rather than pleasure which I find is more of a fluid act.
How has your work allowed you to redefine your body and gender identity?
By focusing so closely on the female form I found myself needing to address personal issues which arose within my studies of the human figure. This caused conflict with my own self-image; my solution was to use myself as my muse. It enabled me to embrace my body for what it is and can be seen as.
What is your opinion on female objectification in everyday life as opposed to inside of the bedroom?
Gross – in everyday life I have found the kind of objectification expressed is purely animalistic instinct leaving you feeling exposed and raw, whereas in the bedroom this is a place where you feel comfortable, objectification may occur however with consent.
What are you working on for the future?
I have just started a project involving body dismemberment; using 3 different body types, I will address the questions of ‘when is it that the body goes from the sight of desire to the sight of grotesque.’ Stay tuned!
Follow Ranny Cooper on Instagram for more inspiration