the venus cycle

Cast Paper Sculptures
1999–2007

The Venus Cycle explores the reality of the older woman’s body, un-idealized and imprinted with life’s experiences, Society’s emphasis on female beauty as youthful and slender belies what women see when they look in the mirror and discounts the grace and strength of older women’s bodies. With a brazen acceptance, Grabel normalizes the changing seasons of the female form.

The beauty and lightness of the paper echoes the strength and vulnerability of older women. Grabel adds color and texture by working with different fibers that shrink at different rates. She boils onion skins, garlic skins and corn husks, enhancing the organic nature of the handmade paper.