We live in a culture, which attaches an unthinkably large amount of energy to the idea that the form of the identity and the form of the body are one and the same thing. Orlan repeatedly attacks the link between her body shape and self-identity. .
Orlan had a relentless hatred for her mother. This was because she discovered that her mother wished to sell her as a bride. In many of Orlan's works from the 1980 s, she utilises trousseau sheets, which were traditionally a collection of brides clothing to commence the woman's married life with. The utilisation of the sheets symbolized the giving away of the daughter to another patriarchal nexus.# Figure 1.
Evidently feminist in inspiration, she overturned the intended purpose of the sheets, which instead of wrapping her into confined marital comfort, were employed as drapes to be removed and discarded in a titillating strip tease. Orlan rigorously denies that her work is emotional release from the concerns of the relationship with her mother. This denial I find astonishing when we can view a work such as this early work called, Orlan gives birth to herself' Figure 2.This plants the idea that she might be trying to replace the hatred for her real-life mother by simulating giving birth to herself. .
Orlan has revealed that from childhood and adolescence, she seemed to have a profound experience of alienation from her external appearance as she did not recognise herself by her image in the mirror. It is this type of alienation from their appearance that exists among certain patients of cosmetic surgery and also sufferers of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. By not identifying with the shape that their body image presents to them and by imagining that certain features are far larger or smaller than they really are, these people insist that they must appear more beautiful. In Orlan's case, rather than seeking to improve' her external appearance to bring it in line with classical theories of beauty, she has famously altered it due to her desire for artistic experiment.
