"Fruiting Bodies"

“Fruiting Bodies,” the latest from Jennifer Bieniek, uses a mythological journey as the narrative structure upon which to map an exploration of the female reproductive cycle. The immersive installation “examines the human biological drive for procreation” and the “biological, psychological and cultural factors controlling the female reproductive system.” Featuring draped swathes of fabric in varied flesh tones and biomorphic sculptural forms in shades of red that veer toward black — mimicking the blood with which women become intimately familiar over the course of their lives — the exhibition is an unapologetic look at female procreative power and how it maps onto the human condition. This work is deeply personal to Bieniek, a mother of three who has also experienced the loss of a pregnancy, and she intertwines her personal experience into her pieces to depict the intimate yet universal system.