Venia
The research on femininity draws a comparison between the goddess Venus and the modern woman emphasizing the perception of women throughout the centuries and the issues relevant to this day. The team explains the drive behind shooting the story Venia, ”Seeing women as symbols, statues, objects, jewelry instead of as human beings is an attitude we want to break.”
Basing the story on two main characters, Venus and Ophelia, the team wishes to break from the non-human characteristics presented throughout history and enable a new character for the audience to identify with, a modern woman. From the realities of ancient Rome to the impact literature made on the definition of femininity to the possibility of breaking free from the old concepts, we encounter new identifications.
Venia is a project created from a collaboration between Yuval Lasri, a Fashion Design student at Shenkar, Tel Aviv, and Maya Livshits, a fashion photographer. The collaboration extended to work with artists in various spheres: Yannay Menin, a MUAH artist; Dan Swisa, a sculptor; Enbar Shetrit, a jewelry artist; and models: Erika Suzuki and Romy Halkin. We speak with the team about femininity as the central theme they chose to explore. We discuss dynamics between the team members and their approach to the story, and we close by speaking about the technical side of the shooting process.
Designer Yuval Lasri Photography by Maya Livshits Models Erika Suzuki & Romy Halkin MUAH Yannay Menin Sculptor Artist Dan Swisa Jewelry Artist Enbar Shetrit
‘It is important to remember that Venus is only an invention. Seeing women as symbols, statues, objects, jewelry instead of as human beings is an attitude we want to break. That's why we’ve called this project Venia which means divine grace and is the origin for Venus’ name.’
Venus, the goddess of love, fertility, beauty, passion, prosperity, and victory, is the most iconic female figure. Temples were built for her throughout Rome, and she was displayed in all the salons in early 20th century Europe. Her character has been portrayed greatly in our culture. However, it is important to remember that Venus is only an invention. Seeing women as symbols, statues, objects, jewelry instead of as human beings is an attitude we want to break. That's why we’ve called this project Venia which means divine grace and is the origin for Venus’ name. We are not divine grace, and we don’t want to be treated that way anymore, not only in real life but in fantasies as well. However, it is not only about Venus, it's about other iconic women. We find that almost every iconic female figure is scaled from being a tragic story of love to an unattainable goddess.
‘Yuval created a theater costume of Ophelia, and as we started to talk about her image, we found that many iconic females share the same divine qualities and tragic narratives. So we decided to take reference from the images of Ophelia and Venus, a victim and a goddess.’
When we started our collaboration, we knew that we were going to talk about femininity. Yuval created a theater costume of Ophelia, and as we started to talk about her image, we found that many iconic females share the same divine qualities and tragic narratives. So we decided to take reference from the images of Ophelia and Venus, a victim and a goddess. By merging staged women with classic sculptures that Dan Swisa built and by staging in the same set different outfits (one is the reference of the fabric laid on Venus’ body and the other is a piece that Yuval created by using leather molding technique), we glorified women who are flesh and blood, who have weaknesses and values that make them as vulnerable and powerful as an ordinary human being. We want these contrasts to help the audience identify with the new characters we made and still make the connection to classic feminine symbols.
‘To enable this environment, we understood that we have to play with the perspective by placing the objects closer or farther from the lens to make them look as grand as they are in the museums or as small as they seem to be next to a human being.’
As an artist, Maya was always amazed by the enormous neoclassical sculptures and the beautiful endless space of neoclassical architecture. In this story, we wanted to take those monuments and place them in a small set, with a four-wall studio we set up in Yuval’s living room in Tel Aviv.
‘We are asking to portray the women who want to stop being locked up in our culture’s prison of beauty’.
To enable this environment, we understood that we have to play with the perspective by placing the objects closer or farther from the lens to make them look as grand as they are in the museums or as small as they seem to be next to a human being. We used soft lighting for the viewer to automatically think about the neoclassical paintings and to emphasize our story. We are asking to portray the women who want to stop being locked up in our culture’s prison of beauty.
