Phantasmal Gallery
Phantasmal Gallery
Zoceans
Pretty When I Cry
This piece is about the idea of beauty as an invitation to the
abuse feminine people suffer, particularly younger ones. The
camp glittery finish combined with the imagery of genitalia
evokes a feeling of reclaiming a lost girlhood before outside
influences of perversion and misogyny.
Cum On I Know You Want To Really,
One of the most literal sculptures in
this collection, I made this to express
anger after harassment in the
workplace. The oyster itself being
something beautiful which is then
forcefully ripped open and devoured,
taking the creatures life. To me, this
experience mirrors assault, the feeling of
having something taken from you, like
a pearl or even your life.
A Little Bit About The Artist
A Statement From The Artist
Zoe Coldwell is a young artist based in the south of England. Her pieces are often very vulnerable, creating a sense of intimacy as the audience is allowed such a close look at the artists influences. These are based on her own experiences as a plus size, queer, cis, chronically ill woman such as trauma, assault and queerphobia. A lot of her recent work is identifiable through materials, Coldwell often combines sparkly elements of ‘girlhood’ such as plastic beads with abject gunge such as rotting oysters. This lacey symbolism also attempts to convey an abject feeling of confused repulsion when combined with the other bodily and organic elements such as blood that the artist uses as a source of bodily horror. The art aims to create visceral reactions like the feelings of anger and disgust that ensue following the harassment many queer, fat or feminine people endure.
Tell us about a dream you've had.​
A lot of my dreams are scary and seemingly nonsensical, but I do have a favourite. When I was a lot younger, still living in an abusive household, I had this recurring dream about being trapped in an alligator enclosure. In my dream, I was myself, a little girl standing at the top of a slimy man made waterfall looking down at the rolls of concrete nature and seeing the alligators slowly making their way toward me, snapping. I think I plagiarised this fear of crocodiles from Captain Hook in Peter Pan as that ticking always terrified me. As a little girl, there was no way out of this. I was too small to climb out, no one was coming to help and I definitely couldn't fight them off. Over the recurrences of this dream, I began to imagine that the three fairies from sleeping beauty (I seriously believed that I was Aurora) were there to save me, and that's usually when I would wake up.​
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What's your favourite movie or tv show?
​Interview With A Vampire the series!! NOT the film.
​​​​What is your biggest influence on your practice?
I am heavily influenced by the idea of abjection and the monstrous feminine, defined by Julia Kristeva and Barbara Creed, both concepts which are present in ‘good for her’ horror films. An example of such film is Jennifer’s Body, a quote from which this project got its name. This trope grows in popularity steadily since the ‘first’ female revenge film I Spit on Your Grave in 1978, as women, queer people and other marginalized groups continue to suffer at the hands of the patriarchy. Visually, my work references stereotypical representations of women such as the oyster as an aphrodisiac and as cis female genitalia. The oyster is also a reference to my job, which is one of the main sources of misogyny in my life, where I serve and discard oyster shells after the animal is eaten alive by the customer. I also reference feminist movement symbols such as the spiderweb used in the feminists against nuclear power in Greenham in the 80’s. Spiderwebs are also often associated with witches and the craft which I am also referencing as an example of othering and women’s suffering. As for other artists, I reference Alina Szapocznikow as she successfully works with feminine abjection.
For More On This Artist
