Cajsa Von Zeipel’s Solo Exhibition Lento Violento
I had been longing and preparing for Cajsa Von Zeipels solo exhibition at the Andréhn-Schiptjenko gallery in Stockholm for a long time. This was a extraordinary evening which I was sure of that I would never forget. I was nervous, it almost felt like I was going on a date, and I really wanted to make a good first impression. I wanted Cajsa Von Zeipel’s sculptures to like me.
That is why I love them so much, because they are uncompromising. They do not care what you think of them. They are in total self-control, almost to a point where it becomes self-destructive. It is their own bodies which they are in control of and they are neither delicate, fragile or victims.
Cajsa’s sculptures speaks to me about female sexuality and the female body. Which I feel as a woman has been destroyed in many ways, and these teenage girls are claiming with no excuse what rightly belongs to them. Female sexuality and the female body belongs to us women and girls and no one should have the right to take it away from us. Cajsa’s sculptures are trying to find sexual acceptance and freedom in the middle of a world that reduces women to orifices and body parts. The porn industry has destroyed our society, and has left scars that is hard to heal. We have to pay attention to the consequences of the degrading of women and how to pave the way for a improved humane world. We need strong voices like Cajsa Von Zeipel.
The exhibition exceeded my expectations and left me speechless. Her sculptures talk about something so important and vital without apologizing. I had to gather my thoughts and it was hard for me to find the right words to this marvellous experience. Cajsa presented five different sculptures which was part of a scene that you got involved in. This time there were both androgynous men and women. But the men had no say in the teenage-girls sexual games and hierarchical conformation. You were able to see and feel the men’s frustration in the exhibition. Women don’t need men’s help to find their sexuality.
As a young woman it is refreshing to see her sculptures and characters portraying something completely different in comparaison with what you normally get forced-fed with everyday. Just waiting on the buss you have to stand next to a two meter high billboard with a naked women crouching in her underpants. The assumption that the term woman refers to a common identity is not true, and I’m glad to see some options. The category women is a cultural product, no one is born with a gender.
Our eyes objectifies and masters more than our other senses. It sets at a distance and maintains the distance. The sculptures are placed amongst mirrors, which alludes you to se the sculptures looking at themselves while your are watching. What women want usually mirrors what men want, but here the girls are looking at themselves in the mirror.
Cajsa Von Zeipel solo exhibition Lento Violento, 23 august – 30 september 2012 at the Andréhn-Schiptjenko gallery, Stockholm. Words by Sara Litzen. Photos by Petr Davydtchenko