LYB Art-a-Thon
*** Trigger Warning ***
The Love Your Body Art-a-Thon was created to be an open space for the expressions of how you love your body. Some content will include visual expressions that some viewers find offensive and/or traumatizing. NOW aims to potentially warn of disturbing content and we ask that you help to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and sensitivity.
Nurture Self-Love-Not-Self-Doubt
Artist: Lia
Nurture Self-Love-Not Self-Doubt,’ expresses my journey through life of loving my body no matter what stage or what age I am at. I believe many people struggle with the pressure that social media beauty standards place on us. For example, I am aware that images of social media and entertainment industry models are airbrushed, filtered and photoshopped to the max. However, there is still a small part of me that wants to plant messages of self-doubt telling me I am not good enough. We need to squash these fears of not being accepted as our whole, awesomely unique and complete selves. We are enough. If we work on our inner child and envision our parental nurturing selves providing an embracing hug and sending messages of self-love and acceptance, we may begin the process of healing and rebuilding our self-worth.
So how can we as a society combat the never ending mirage of impossible beauty standards? We can start by believing that we, as individuals, are complete, whole and incredible just as we are. If we provide these reaffirming messages to youths at the youngest of ages, while nurturing self-love, we may be able to offset the seeds of doubt that grow when social media, peers, parents and guardians believe children (or themselves) don’t reach societal expectations.
Now more then ever, I believe it is crucial to reach out with messages of self-love and self-acceptance, in order to counter the detrimental impact of social media. It is imperative that we provide compassion for the whole world, including ourselves. I hope that my work evokes feelings of peace and hope.
The Power of Naked
Artist: Kiana Vaziri
As the daughter of Iranian immigrants, my changing body as I developed into a young woman was never discussed in our household, even in the most PG setting. I spent a long time knowing that my body held immovable power but feeling afraid that it could have such an influence on myself and other people. So I hid my body under loose clothes and hid my sexuality under shame when, really, I should have been celebrating them both.
But, in our society women are constantly objectified for their bodies, and in many cases of modern dating, women are used for nothing more than their bodies. And when a woman takes ownership of her sexuality then she’s called a slut and a whore. And sluts don’t get to decide what they do with their bodies, their reputations, or their emotional well-being.
We’re so layered with opinions that we forget that underneath we’re all just skin and bone. We have the same flesh beneath our clothes. If we as humans are a creation then our bodies are a work of art. So I decided to go one step further. I went shopping for old porn magazines because women who willingly pose naked are looked down upon for flaunting their nether regions.
I used their photos to decorate their bodies in color and creative expression, as a way of decorating my right, and all of our rights as women, to be sexual and to share our sexuality in whatever way we see fit.
I will no longer reject such a significant part of my human experience, because I accept the whole of who I am as a woman. While I have my days of self-judgement, painting these photos is a reminder of the magic that is my body for even existing and the beauty that can be found in every inch of my skin. My hope is that by sharing my artwork, other women will begin to see this in themselves and stand tall in the power of their body, their sexuality, and their art.
Arnaq From the Nuna
Artist: Grace Moore
I am a mixed indigenous woman, Yup’ik, German, and Irish. The title of this piece, ‘Arnaq From the Nuna’ is a mix of English and Yugtun (the native language of the Yup’ik), arnaq means woman in yugtun and nuna means earth, Woman From the Earth. I feel a deep bond to our lands, specifically my home in Alaska, and when I am outside I feel most connected, grounded, and beautiful. Our bodies, much like all creations on the earth are unique and one of a kind, we were made to stand out. There are hundreds of flowers in the background, and not every flowers is perfect; sometimes there is an extra petal, sometimes a petal is a different size, sometime it is a different color, but nonetheless there is always beauty in a flower. Our bodies are the same way, they may not be ‘perfect’ but there is still an endless beauty to it and they deserve to be loved. By depicting myself emerging from the earth along with the flowers I express just that, and that is how I love my body, we are unique and beautiful, just as nature intended.
In the Body: 1, 2 & 3
Artist: Patrise Henkel
Now in my 60s, after a lifetime of challenges living in a fat body, I am experiencing more physical challenges but a much greater friendship with my body.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
UmmHummm
Artist: Janet Morgan
Please this is so important, being in and enjoying our bodies is our right.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet s
Who does she think she is
Artist: Kimberly Dow
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in.
Transcendental & Big Red
Artist: Miro
I find peace and tranquillity in the body I have not the body I want.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
Escalating Nipples
Artist: Carol Rasprercher
It shows how powerful my breasts are, no matter what they look like.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to.
Heels and Hair
Artist: Ray Clare
For many years I have been shamed for not shaving and sometimes I’ve found it difficult to ignore the haters. However, I’ve learned to love my body and the hair it grows. I created this piece to showcase that love and to hopefully inspire other females to reject the stigma that surrounds their body hair.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air.
Twists and Curves
Artist: Audrey
For many years I have been shamed for not shaving and sometimes I’ve found it difficult to ignore the haters. However, I’ve learned to love my body and the hair it grows. I created this piece to showcase that love and to hopefully inspire other females to reject the stigma that surrounds their body hair.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air.
Self Portrait
Artist: Diana Kurz
I have been painting self-portraits consistently over many years, and as I observe and portray myself I am honoring the changes in my face as I age.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze.
Not All That Glitters
Artist: Forest LaBaron
Makeup washes away and sometimes society expects a certain face. But I think by washing away those expectations we find our own personal beauty no matter what we look like.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
You Are Perfect
Artist: Ahmed Ali
Every part of your body represents you. Your love for your body allows you to face any words you do not want to hear from anyone. Because if you see yourself as perfect, everyone will know that you are perfect, And you will force them to see it. So that they won’t make or make any comments about your body because they know you love and accept it.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
Love Your Uniqueness
Artist: Ky
In the past, I was very self-conscious about my body and I brought myself into a severe eating disorder, which made me love my body because I was so tiny. I am learning to love my healthy body, even if I am a “box” or “masculine”. Also embracing my feminine side is very hard for me. I am learning to love both masculine and feminine sides of myself. In this photo, I am wearing a bralette but I am also wearing a masculine blazer. To me, this shows how I have overcome my fear of showing my body and I have learned to show my girly side.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze.
Heart In Hand
Artist: Katey Branch
This represents accepting, loving, trusting, and appreciating the loving essence of who I am in the body I have been gifted with.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze.
Your Body No Matter What
Artist: Elena Kalem
Everyone should love their body just how it is and you shall not change it because of others.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello.
Eye Of The Beholder
Artist: Arden Anderson
So many young women today are told that their bodies are not good enough or pretty enough. Who’s to blame? Social media, for the most part. Social media and the internet have such a large impact on how women view their bodies. If you so much as glance online you will see this idea that every woman should be a particular size, shape and color. Many girls my age jump into this rabbit hole, scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram for hours, wishing they were as beautiful as the women they see there. It’s depressing to think of all the young women with a negative self-image because of what the internet has told them. My self-portrait represents how when I find myself scrolling for too long, I get worn out and need to remind myself to focus on how much I love my own body, not someone else’s. I drew myself in black and white and the phone in color to show how regular life can sometimes fade into the background when we are on devices, and we sometimes feel like what we see on the screen is more important than where we actually are. This, of course, is not true. I love my body because it is strong, beautiful, and unique, not because somebody online told me it is satisfactory. I may not have the “ideal” shape but I will always be grateful for what my body can do for me.
3 Muses
Artist: Kelly Chapin Hagen
Creating these figures gives me acceptance to know that I am beautiful, as all shapes and sizes of women should feel. We need to see different styles of bodies to know that we are accepted and magnificent in the wonders that our bodies can handle and do.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
“Nature Maid: Devil’s Claws”
Artist: Linda Ganstrom
Most at home in the country, I love how my body can move about in nature and gather her gifts such as these Devil’s Claws. At 60, my body is full and ripe, soft and comforting, my heart and arms are full. As an art professor, I love connecting and walking the creative path with other artists and helping them develop the seeds of their potential even if it is in a dangerous and thorny shell. My figure reveals the impressions of cultural ornamentation overlaid on the physical body revealing my values and heritage, promise and bias.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze.
Love The Lipstick
Artist: Gaby
I like to express myself through my fashion and makeup a lot, oftentimes I depend on it to feel pretty. But I sometimes forget to love myself just the way I am, I always stare just a bit too long in the mirror and take note of all my “flaws”. When I don’t feel pretty I use makeup to “cover up my flaws”. At some point I realised that using makeup to cover up something that society pronounces “ugly” and “undesirable” is not a way to make myself feel pretty. Society doesn’t get to pick what makes me pretty and what doesn’t, feeling pretty is something I have to achieve by my own likes and dislikes. I have since learned to dress up and do my makeup for myself and do it the way I think is best. Nobody should be forced to hate themselves because of some unimportant beauty standards. I belive that makeup and beauty do go together, I feel prettier when I wear it, but at the end of the day I’m still me even when I take it off. I’m not wearing makeup to be artificial, but to make myself happy. If you ask me, such things as “flaws” don’t exist, they are things that make us unique and different from everybody else, you don’t need to love them, but they are still a part of you. I find myself realting more to the body neutrality movement- it’s normal to not love my body sometimes, not every day can be a good one, and at those times I like to wear flattering clothes and makeup. And even though I may not love my body every day, I still try my best to remain positive. What makes me love my body is accepting that I won’t think I look naturally pretty every day, but still accepting it as part of me.
Boundaries will set you Free
Artist: EarthArtists Studio
As a woman, I am influenced by the reoccurring struggle between empowerment and powerlessness in our society. Learning late in life to set boundaries, physical, mental and emotional, I gained the freedom to become the human I want to be and to love my whole body and whole self. Through the medium of clay, I can express abstract feelings of strength, power, freedom, oppression etc.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
Love Your Body 2022
Artist: Rachel Davis
My artwork represents how known insecurities from many women are considered, “ugly.” When in reality, they are just natural normal things on the body. I can relate to my art as I once, thought that the marks on my body were unnatural when in reality, they aren’t.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
the feminine triumph
Artist: d.a.g.
This piece not only resembles my interpersonal struggle, and triumph over physical and mental barriers alike regarding my self-image (the rock face and fluid background), but it also displays my new interpretation of the word “beauty”. The abstract design of an otherwise routine being symbolizes the truth that society must recognize: beauty comes in all forms.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.
Standards of Beauty
Artist: Creator Stone
I personally am still working with my body image since I am trans but I see my female classmates and other women around me constantly compare themselves to this false idea of beauty and unrealistic expectations. “My waist is too big” or “my boobs are too small” are things I constantly hear from others about their own bodies. While I was raised female I now have a different expectation for my body and while I can add my input on the unrealistic standards for women, I can no longer project myself into what they go through. So I took all those negative thoughts that women have and decided to show how unhealthy and how painful those expectations can be on yourself especially when others like men and markets put a price on those parts and try to conform everyone to those images made in Photoshop and edited to perfection. This isn’t a “why I love myself”, it’s a “this will happen to you if you keep forcing yourself to fit these expectations”. A cautionary tale to something that should not have existed in the first place.
“Surrender”
Artist: Ashley Gonzalez
Because I’m a dancer and I use my body as my artwork and my canvas, It very important for me to showcase body positivity since there is a high percentage of dancers who are not comfortable in their bodies since there is a constant pressure to be perfect and to have the “perfect body”. Myself included, there has been a negative stigma towards me to be a certain shape and form to be able to be considered as a “dancer”. Dance for me is my form to express my natural beauty and my imperfections. Every body is beautiful and I’ve learned to love my body for what it is. This is how I show love for my body.
Midnight
Artist: Mila Georgievska
My piece reflects on the journey of loving myself, my home, and my individually unique shell-my body. It addresses the negative thoughts first: insecurity, anger with oneself, subconscious pressure to fit the current beauty standard, confusion, sadness. It represents the battle between positive and negative thinking. My story is all about loving the body in a sense of willingness and commitment to battling the negative thought patterns and societal pressures that convince young women that our bodies are ugly, never enough, never desirable if we don’t fit a certain mold that is being shoved down and subconsciously forced everywhere we look.
This piece is my mantra, my way of saying :
I love my body because I am willing to fight the battle every day.
I am willing to look at myself in the mirror and say nice things to myself even if I don’t feel like it.
I am committed to staying true and staying authentic.
I am committed to loving this temple that I’ve been gifted upon entering this world.
Stardust
Artist: Molly Higgins
I have had an on/off relationship with self-love. For this project, I drew myself how I am, not an idealized version. (I drew my acne, I tried to better reflect my body type, and I let my hair look messy.) I added parts I normally leave out because people told me it was ugly. However, as I drew them, I realized it only added to the picture. The picture felt more me.
In addition, as I was working on this, I learned that humans are made up of the very same components as stars in my science class. This made me realize that, like stars, I shine too. I am made up of stardust and I have my whole future ahead of me. I want to let myself shine. I want to live fully. I can’t do that if I am too focused on how others perceive me. Stars don’t shine for people to study them, people study them because they are captivated by the star’s beauty. Moving forward, I need to embrace the stardust in my skin and shine for myself.
Overall, this project was really fun. Even though I started with a vague idea of how I could portray self-love, I ended up internalizing it. I love my body because it made up of stardust, and like stars, I can burn brightly. I love my body because it is me, and where would I be without it?
Loso-Miro exposed
Artist: Loso-Miro
I love my body as it ages. It expresses all of the experiences that I have had.
Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand. Hello. Today is the most amazing day. It is sunny outside and there is a slight breeze. The ocean sweet smell of kelp and salt are in the air. Afterwork today we will go down to the beach to put our feet in the sand.