Central negative photographic image of a woman lying down in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her head; collage of photographic images at bottom creating a worm with the head of a woman, seen from under her chin; black paper with cutouts in background; swirling, abstract imagery on rectangular section, LRC; five white cutout flowers with twisted paper stems below image of woman lying down

%C2%A9 1992 Kiki Smith%2F Universal Limited Art Editions

Worm, 1992

Kiki Smith has explored ideas of mortality, decay, and femininity through images of the body—usually her own. Here, she has dissected photographs of herself to create a worm-like figure, emerging below a body contorted into the fetal position and framed by a rectangle. Is the shape constricting or comforting her' The curled figure is a photographic negative, creating an unnatural glow that dissolves the face and hands—as though the body were decaying into light.

Details
Title
Worm
Artist Life
American, born Germany, 1954
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2011.74.14
Provenance
Private collection, Minneapolis; given to MIA, 2011.
Catalogue Raisonne
Krakow 23; Weitman 64
Curator Approved

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Central negative photographic image of a woman lying down in a fetal position with her arms wrapped around her head; collage of photographic images at bottom creating a worm with the head of a woman, seen from under her chin; black paper with cutouts in background; swirling, abstract imagery on rectangular section, LRC; five white cutout flowers with twisted paper stems below image of woman lying down

© 1992 Kiki Smith/ Universal Limited Art Editions

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