Jill Gussow (b. 1951)

The small stone sculpture known as Venus of Willendorf, created approximately 24,000-22,000 B.C.E., is a totemic representation of female sexuality and fertility. Although she is only 11.1 centimeters high (4.4 inches), she epitomizes universal powers of reproduction. This icon has inspired numerous artists, including photographers Irving Penn, whose 1949 Nude #1 pays direct homage, and Jill Gussow, who manipulated her prints in the darkroom by drawing directly on photographs of her pregnant torso. She wanted to express some of her personal fears of impending parenthood, while also suggesting pictorial imagery used by different cultures throughout millennia that convey both the physical and metaphysical transformations associated with human reproduction.