Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit is a body of work that reimagines the “forbidden fruit” as a surreal hybrid, a fruit head atop a nude body, freeing it from the burden of shame historically placed upon Eve.

Drawing from both art historical and feminist perspectives, the work explores the ongoing tension between visibility, modesty, and autonomy. Inspired by Masaccio’s The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden and Kiki Smith’s Eve, I examine how depictions of women in Western art have long tied sin to the body. In contrast, my figures reclaim their forms, obscured, fragmented, and unbound, to challenge traditional ideas of morality and representation.

By combining handcrafted crochet with surreal costume forms, I translate Bosch’s mythic imagery into a contemporary reflection on identity and concealment. The use of crochet, a medium deeply connected to care and touch, becomes a quiet act of resistance against repetition and uniformity.

Through this play of history and material, Forbidden Fruit invites viewers into a world where desire, shame, and transformation meet. The hybrid figures stand as both playful and unsettling symbols of change, questioning what it means to be seen, to hide, and to take ownership of one’s own image.