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What is The Venus Project?
The Venus Project is a self-reflective, mixed-media documentary that explores the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual transformation of multi-disciplinary artist, Cody La Vada. Using artwork that ranges from collaborative photography, self-portraiture, poetry, prose, performance, and collage, Cody intends to chronicle her metamorphosis and experiences as a transgender woman within America in such a way that promotes better understanding and acceptance of trans individuals through exposure, education, and elucidation.
What to expect :
The Venus Project will be an on-going, introspective, documented exploration of the self - specifically, the self of Cody La Vada in all of her facets - both performed and candid, fabricated and authentic, inherent and discovered. This project will use artistic and social media to interrogate what we know, or think we know, about gender, identity, bodies, and the liminal middle ground where they all intersect. This undertaking will span countless forms of art, but a few of the things that you can definitely expect to see on this site are:
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Blog posts that will focus on current trans-related politics, transgender history, trans icons, and discourse on other miscellaneous trans topics (book, movie, art reviews, rants, articles of inspiration, etc.). The blog will also cater to the personal - to Cody's very specific transitional journey. In these instances, you can expect updates on her transformation timeline, emotional and physical changes, makeup tutorials, and general chronicles about her day to day life as a trans individual.
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Updates on The Venus Complex, Cody's up-coming companion piece to this website, which will be available by early next year in both print and e-book formats. This book will contain prose, poetry, artwork, photographs, and vignettes that explore Cody's transition and the multitude of experiences, both positive and negative, she has had as a result. Excerpts from the book will be posted to the blog as they become available.
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Artwork and photography. As a multi-disciplinary artist who draws profound inspiration from her experiences, identity, and emotions, Cody's gender and transition have always played a major part in her creative process. As such, she will be using every available form of artwork that she can possibly experiment with to document and depict her transition. You can expect to see photography, self-portraits, sketches, writing, collages, and videos that all serve as documentation of these exciting and pivotal moments in Cody's life.
All of this and more will be available through this website. It will be updated as often as possible, all with one goal in mind: the normalization of trans bodies and identities through intensely personal story-telling and visual exploration.
So, why Venus?
"Historically, the Roman goddess, Venus (and her Greek counterpart, Aphrodite) has always been intrinsically linked with stories of transformation, sex, identity, gender, and rebirth. Across culture and time, she has been used to represent the masculine and the feminine - and, at times, both or neither. She has been depicted as a feminine man and as a masculine woman, and with a blending of gendered anatomy. The Roman writer, Lucian, from the 2nd century, described her as having 'two natures and double beauty.' I think that this androgynous duality, coupled with the fact that she is often described as the patron goddess of love, sexuality, desire, and beauty, has made her appeal to me since an early age. When trying to conceive a meaningful title for this project and its accompanying book, I returned to my interest in Venus and decided that such an icon would be the perfect figurehead for my self-representation. I was particularly drawn to the Botticelli Birth of Venus painting because of the way that Botticelli crafted Venus, as a beautiful woman with divine sexual power, surmounted by adoring attendants as she rises from the sea, with a body that is both supremely feminine and curiously sexless. She is not a towering titan of artificial or cosmetic supremacy, but rather a relatively average-looking woman that still manages to command attention and lust. I view Venus as the goal to which I aspire, and wanted to have the documentary exploration of my transition be for my audience what Botticelli's Venus was for me: a symbol of hope, inspiration, and self-identification."
--- Cody La Vada
Introduction to The Venus Complex: A Lyrical Exploration of the Self
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