Rebecca (Bec) McPherson is a contemporary illustrator and sculptor.

Her work reflects her ongoing journey with mental illness and challenges the stigma surrounding the topic in every-day society. In 2014 Bec began teaching casual Manga drawing workshops at her local art store. Given her workshops were a success, this lead her to start her manga style business/identity – Bexylum Art.
Bec runs ongoing weekly drawing classes for youth and NDIS (Disability) clients, along with various workshops throughout the Wide Bay region, Australia.

And now to that sculpture FLOSS: 

Polymer mixed medium sculpture on Wooden ping pong paddle.

“I am a self-employed artist; Mostly manga illustration, although I am also a sculptor.  From a young age I have been interested in sculpting, alongside my main interest – drawing. I have many fond memories of working with air-dry clay and Plasticine as a child and displaying them around the house for my family to discover.

When creating this sculpture, I wanted to instill the discomfort on the viewer that many women feel when viewing their own genitals. Many women feel ‘disconnected’ from their genitals. Some even afraid to look at themselves in the mirror. Getting to know your body is extremely important. Without knowing yourself physically, and what is normal and may be unaware if something changes and is not normal. This can then lead to undetected health issues and complications. Knowing your genitals is also incredibly important for sexual satisfaction. How is your sexual partner meant to please you if you haven’t explored your own body and know what gives you satisfaction. It is so important to know yourself intimately!

The discomfort felt does not only affect young women. Sadly, some go throughout their entire lives feeling embarrassed and ashamed of what is beneath their underwear. Never quite ‘knowing’ themselves.

This piece was created to instill the feeling of discomfort and disconnection as many women feel when looking at their own genitals. (An insight to those who have not experienced such dysmorphia)

So why teeth?
I have always had a strange fascination with teeth; the only exposed bone in the human body. Throughout the years, I have noticed quite a few people feel uneasy with the talk of teeth and the dentist. This fascinates me as I think they are wonderful. I have a small growing collection of human teeth I keep in jars; all gifts from their original owners. These have not been used in my sculptures! All the teeth I use are made of resin. These resin teeth are what are used to create dentures in the medical field. My human teeth collection is merely part of my collection of oddities and taxidermy. (Ethically sourced, by the way!)

The concept of the vagina and teeth is not something new. Vagina dentata (Latin for toothed vagina) is a folklore/myth within many cultures. The tale of women having teeth within their vagina, to protect themselves against non-consensual intercourse that may result in injury or further, castration.

Something that isn’t folklore is the medical teratoma (The concept behind my most recent sculpture after ‘Floss’) A teratoma is a tumor that can grow anywhere though-out the human body; often producing it’s own bodily tissue: often teeth and hair.
There have been cases of the cystic teratoma growing inside the uterus of women – Fueling the story and myths of vagina dentata.”

(Sculpture and photograph by Bec McPerson. Copyright Bec McPherson 2020)

 (click on image above to enlarge)