E. V. Day (b. 1967, New York, NY); Mummified Barbie; 2018; beeswax, twine, and Barbie doll; 4 × 12 in.; image courtesy of E. V. Day.
E. V. Day (b. 1967, New York, NY); Mummified Barbie; 2018; beeswax, twine, and Barbie doll; 4 × 12 in.; image courtesy of E. V. Day.
I hold the doll in one hand and wind a cord
around and around the doll with the other.
The trick is to maintain the right amount of tension
to keep the cord from slipping off.
It is a bit of a game.
It always takes me multiple tries to get it right.
To completely cover her body with string
takes concentration and coordination.
It is impossible to multi-task.
While I am doing this
I lose sense of time and
gravity disappears.
To “mummify” Barbie in this way
is meditation.
E. V. Day is a New York–based artist whose work explores themes of sexuality and humor while employing gravity-defying suspension techniques. Day was awarded the prestigious Rome Prize for Visual Arts by the American Academy in Rome in 2017, and she has had many solo exhibitions, including at the Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. Day received her MFA in sculpture from Yale School of Art.
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