Namsa Leuba brings a rather literal interpretation of the icky-cute term “lady garden” to this image, which is saturated and smoothed to almost Surrealist intensity. The photograph is part of a new series of work titled Illusions – The Myth of the Vahine through Gender Dysphoria, which questions “the problematic exoticism and sexualisation of Polynesian women in Western art historical narratives” (we’re looking at you Gauguin), according to gallery Boogie Wall—a London space showing work exclusively by women, which exhibited Leuba’s series as part of its group show Notre Dame/Our Lady last month. The Swiss-Guinean photographer addresses the notion of the “vahine”—a Westernized term that implies beauty but subservience in Tahitian women. Instead, the artist seeks to depict what she terms “the original” and “the authentic”—stripping away the power of the male gaze through focusing on non-binary subjects: the subject here is a transgender model covered with body paint to highlight the notion of myth-making and -breaking.
