Wonderwoman Art Bra, conference by Alejandra Gutiérrez, Riga, 2015.

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Throughout the ages, the female body has been revered as a work of art and beauty and as a source of life, from which human beings are born. The breast is one of the most predominant features of a woman and stands out as a symbol of womanliness and livelihood. Eroticism, nourishment, abundance, hunger, feminine power, as well as feminine subservience, are different contradicting concepts that the breast played out in time.

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Undergarments of the ancient Greeks included primarily the apodesmos or strophion.

The strophion, made of narrow bands of cloth twisted and wrapped around and beneath the breasts was generally worn on top of the tunic. The intention was to flatten the breasts so they wouldn't move, which is not unlike today's' sports bra. They were made of either wool or linen and were tied or pinned in the back. Mentions of this type of underwear can be found in Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey as well as in the works of Herodotus and Aristophanes. Versions of both of these garments were worn up to and through the Middle Ages.

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It is this mind set that informs the need for any garments that truly could be considered underwear, and it's the broad range of activities and freedom that the Spartan woman enjoyed which gave rise to the use of probably, the first bra.

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The images of the Maidens have been used in several cases to represent the Greek apodesmos, and though it looks like the same garment, and was influenced by the Spartan female athletes, what these circus lasses were wearing on top would have been called the strophium adopted and slightly modified from the Greek word for twisted belt, or fascia, taenia, or mamillare.

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From the binding of the breasts in male‐dominated Ancient Greece, to the large breasts of the 1980’s, the way society treats the breasts reflects the customs of society at the time. Why is the breast considered such an important feature of the body? Is it because of their connection with lactation and the nurturing of infants?

Or because of their sexual nature, as a symbol of femininity and womanhood? Whatever the reason, they are an important indication of the idiosyncrasy of Western society.

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While during the Renaissance breast feeding was a symbol of sacred motherhood, as in the Madonnas della Latte, during the seventeenth century people became more frivolous, clothing became more revealing, and the neckline lowered to show cleavage. The breasts once again became the predominant center of female attractiveness over the belly that symbolized Virgin Mary. It stood as a symbol of power and wealth at a time when mercantilism was on the rise in Europe

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The corset, which was previously used to flatten the breasts, was used to push in the stomach and push out the breasts. Louis XIV of France’s personal taste was a factor in this, as he demanded lower necklines for all the court. Independence and freedom of expression were then the key and an outpour of emotional awakening occurred. The breasts were popular as symbols of emotion and naturalism.

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In 1893, Marie Tucek patented the first modern brassiere. It was similar to the brassiere used today in that it had separate cups for each breast, shoulder straps and a hook in the back. From the 1860s to the 1930s many inventors struggled with the same problem: How to free up the waist to give women the ability to move more easily while also supporting the bust. but it was not until the 1920’s that the brassiere replaced the corset as the garment of choice

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In the 1960’s women decided to free themselves from the mores of society, advocating civil rights, free love and naturalism. Many women gave up using the bra and in certain settings walked topless. Bra-burning and other extreme measures were used to show women’s pride in themselves and the rejection of the traditional way that sexuality was seen, as a necessary tool for women to obtain power.

In the image, one of the WonderWomen Art Bras by Costarrican Fashion designer Irene Piedra Batalla, who picked the burning bra metaphor for this exhibition.

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Whether it is intentional or subconscious, how the breast is viewed throughout history is a direct reflection of the views of the time. Globalization intrigued the concept of breasts in women through the stereotyped ideal of beauty more so than any other time in history, because of globalized media communication. That kind of relentless bombardment takes a toll, because inevitably women compare their selves to these ideals.

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Women who choose to augment their breasts usually suffer from an extreme gap between body image and mirror image. The global embodiment of beauty is the thin, muscular actress with unnaturally large breasts.

And no matter how attractive they appear to others, many women feel they fall short, because body image is really the way we see our external appearance in our mind.

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Wonderbra is the tradename for an underwired bra with side padding that is designed to uplift and add cleavage to breasts. That is why I chose this title to my proposal, that represents the intriguing values history holds regarding womanhood, throughout implants, Virgins and contemporary Madonnas, all interlaced by the traditional needle work we women share throughout time and space.

In 2010, I achieved with this huge art bra the Special Prize of the 4th Riga International Textile and Fiber Arts Triennial, measuring 1.65 x 2.20 x 0.6 cm. now it belongs to the collection of the Museum of Decorative Art and Design. It represents the hyperbole in which feminine breasts and mammary implants have become, in their meaning through the centuries, from the Virgins of Milk of the Middle Ages, the female cleavage of France in the 1800’s to the increase of measurements in the breasts of young women of our days which requires plastic surgery. And during the 5th Riga International Textile and Fiber Arts Triennial, I feel honored to lead the WonderWoman International Art Bra exhibition, to which I invited many artists from different Hispanic American and North American countries, and were selected the top 40 Art Bras.

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Catadupa Admirabilis means in Latin, WONDERFUL WATERFALL, a tapestry of bras in cascade, representing women who have helped to make this world fairer, more equitable and more balanced. Each art bra has a portrait of each woman who marked a difference for the best and a text and symbol of her work.

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In 2011, as my WTA fellows know, I participated with a paper: "Weaving empowerment" at the Symposium of the Universidad Veracruzana, called "Textiles and society," attached to the VI Biennial of Textile Art of Mexico, where I sent the installation "The Drying Rack Dialogue”, where each art bra tells the story of a real woman, and the black one, tells the story of a boy who is a woman by choice. Each Art Bra tells the real story of someone who fought for her life, for her beliefs and for her dignity.

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Canadian Lynn Atkinson invited me to participate in the Art Bra Project of the West Parry Sound Health Centre Foundational in Ontario and in the Canadian National Exhibition (CNH) in 2011, because of my Art Bras. Then, in 2012 I asked her permission to bring the Bra Project to Costa Rica, a country where breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women. A major grocery was the sponsor, Automercado, and we mounted two extraordinary exhibitions.

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The profesional artists exhibition was held in the former Zona de entrenarte art gallery, curated by Guatemalan curator Marcela Valdeavellano, australian textile artist, Liz Jeneid and the Canadian Bra Project Director, Lynn Atkinson. Main collectionists in Costa Rica bought those Art Bras. The amateur artists´ exhibition, was held at the Automercado stores, where people bought the Art Bras. The funds that the gallery and Automercado collected, were directed to the general hospital new Breast Cancer wing. We also hosted a symposium for the Project, and after this success, “Un Sostén para la Vida”, “A support for life”, initiated its pilgrimage throughout the world.

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The first country after Costa Rica, to hold the challenge of the “Support for Life” initiative, was Uruguay, through the CETU, the Textile Art Center form Uruguay, that got the declaration of “Activity of Cultural Significance” from the Ministry of Culture for the exhibition .

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Many Montevidean artists participated in “A Support for Life” from CETU and La Pasionaria Gallery. The best of those art proposals are participating here at the WonderWoman Art Bra Exhibition.

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Strangely, our Western culture demands that breasts must be hidden. When they are exposed they are ogled lustfully, with little consideration for the woman they belong to.

Breasts are a desirable symbol of femininity, and yet also shamed. They are the symbol of softness of heart. They embody the sensitivity of our feelings and an innate generosity. Yet that generosity can be perceived as ‘risky behavior’ if we express it too ‘openly’. In a patriarchal world, breasts make a woman feel” like a unicorn in a world of horses”, as Manning Haile says . They ‘stick out’. Everyone can see them. And because we have to hide them, I wonder if we are able to fully experience them as the portals they truly are… that is why I stick to the bra symbol, and called artists to stand for the Wonder Womanhood through an art bra. Luckily, dear Velta Raudzepa found it was a good idea for the Riga 5th Triennial. Thank you, for your support! In the photographs, top left, Claudia Fuentes de Lacayo from Nicaragua, presented “The decolonial Bra”; top right, Agnes Imbert, from República Dominicana, presented “The Illusionist Bra”; bottom left, Montserrat Mesalles from Costa Rica,“not Pinky” and multidisciplinary artist María Ortega, from Spain ,presented her magical art bra, that we can see at the bottom, to the right.

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Since it is patriarchal culture that pulls us away from the richness of the feminine too early in life, creating competition and possession as opposed to peacefulness and contentment, the WonderWoman Art Bra call was made based on the 5th Triennial axiom: “Diversity and Unity”, proposing the Bra as the symbol of empowerment and also, health.

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In their honored and prominent location over the heart, I believe breasts are also designed to be a portal of love. Like a gateway to the heart, the loving, radiant energy that seeks to come through them generates emotional connection and the bra is their messenger .

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An Art Bra is a healing path using the power of dreams, dialogues, poetry, and shamanism. This photograph depicts my art work with the breast cancer patients hospitalized in the San Juan de Dios General Hospital in Costa Rica.

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The making of an Art Bra shows psychological realizations that can cause true transformation when manifested by concrete creative acts. Here, working her Art Bra with a patient from San Juan de Dios General Hospital in Costa Rica. The Art Bra creates a healing therapy that could use the powers of dreams, art, and images to empower individuals to heal wounds that in some cases had traveled through generations. The concrete and often surreal poetic actions the Art Bra elicit, are part of an elaborate strategy intended to break apart the dysfunctional low self esteem with whom the patient identifies in order to connect with a deeper self. That is when true transformation can manifest.

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“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity”, says Rachel Naomi Remen, MD. I am convinced this is true. That is why I also work with women from Tirrases, a community at the outskirts of San Jose, living in poverty. In the photograph, Fulana (decís el nombre) y Sutana (decís el nombre), who made their Art Bras for the “Support for Life” exhibition in San Jose, signing the Art Book for admirers.

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These women made their Art Bras and this was the first time they expressed their childhood memories of abuse and pain. The links between the economic health of a community and the quality of its social bonds are becoming increasingly clear when working with these groups at Tirrases. The results have supplied convincing evidence that strong social connections are necessary ingredients of economic success. These women shared their feelings and started knitting and sewing creative products, and then, they began growing form the inside out, at the same time they increased their income.

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Since the 1960’s artists like Miriam Schapiro, Jann Haworth and Louise Bourgeois took a needle in their hands and started making art with this material. Schapiro questioned the idea why the handcrafts were not counted as an art form, why people ignored it and thought it had no creative side, why was it counted as a rather a domestic work.

Haworth and Bourgeois challenged the idea of patriarchal traditional materials (such as bronze, marble, paints). They challenged the idea of taming women by repeating the same motif over and over again, enslaving them inside their house by making tapestries, fabrics, needleworks that blunt their vision and creativity. They transformed the women’s household materials, handcrafts excluded from the art world. From that point on; we women are here in the 5th Riga International Triennial proposing our art bras.

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The WonderWoman Art Bra proposes this exhibition as a “bridge” to create and expand general awareness about art, empowerment and healing, to bring forward through research and related explorations critical knowledge about art, empowerment and healing and the relationship between them, and to help make this knowledge available at the individual and community level.

For the artists from different countries who are participating, empowerment and healing through art is a spiritual path, a transformational process, a way of being. This exhibition concentrates on making art to empower and to heal, on the power of the creative process of art as a transformation force. We believe it unites body, mind, and spirit. In art empowerment and healing, no interpretation or therapy is necessary.

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The WonderWoman Art Bra demonstrates that art is transformational in itself. The artists in this exhibition are usually not trained art therapists or expressive art therapists, they are just people who use the creative process of art to heal themselves, others, and the earth.

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The WonderWoman artists are investigative artists, there are quantum physics art bras, like the Susy Art Bra, at the top left, by Mariu F. Lacayo from Nicaragua, and the Guatemala participant, Leticia Castro Chamberlain, represented with her Mayan Bra on the bottom, left, the new findings made by the San Francisco University, that demonstrate that aboriginal women do not suffer from breast cancer because of a gene, this discovery can lead to a transformation in therapies for this illness throughout the world. You will find Art bras sewn with crystal threads, and many others.

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But what all these Art Bras have in common, is that they are made by a Wonder Woman or by a man that believes in the wonder in all women. We all believe that art is a sphere like the earth, where healers and artist are the same, joining together to create the field of empowerment and healing through art. What is being born is a whole new way of healing and empowering and discovering ourselves through making art that will change our lives. In traditional cultures it was believed that art healed the world, not just the individual. It was believed that art and music changed the hunt, fertility, the crops, the weather, the life of the tribe, and the earth. Today WonderWoman artists are a tribe believing in that their art helps heal the earth. They are making environmental or eco‐art to heal neighborhoods, rivers or to create world peace, like Ilse Ortiz de Manzanares from Nicaragua.

In a very real way the first artist and the first healer were one figure in society, one person, the shaman. This figure became a specialist in going inward to the place of creativity, empowerment and healing. They became the person who embodied the original rituals that previously were spontaneous and made them intentional. All tribal peoples believed that there was a healing and a power spirit that could be freed from within a person by going into the space of creativity and fully participating in the experience. If you would like to increase your ability to be an empowered artist and healer, one way is to increase your understanding of being a contemporary shaman. The path of the shaman is the path of every Wonder Woman Artist, and we are very grateful with Velta Raudzepa and the Committee of these Triennial, who opened their space to

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our proposal Thank you very much and I invite you to watch this exhibition with an open soul and heart, it will change something in your life. Thank you!

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