This ethos of vaginal power and politics is similarly echoed in Stoltmann’s photographs. In Spray Bush, Stoltmann crops her figure, placing minge up front and centre: graffiti coated with a layer of neon pink her sex is simultaneously transformed into both an audacious beacon and hazard sign. Her Listen series collages seashells into pornographic crotch shots reminiscent of Corbet’s The Origin of The World, reinforcing the idea of feminine alignment with nature, creation, and spirituality.
Kirsten Stoltmann draws from her own experiences growing up in the American Mid-West to articulate her feminist views about suburban culture and values. In her sculptures and photos Stoltmann brazenly confronts taboo and expectation with a witty irony and double entendre of visual language. In Chrome Tumbleweed On Southwestern Rug, Stoltmann’s plant stands as a symbol of nature and freedom, confined and domesticated by its carpet base. Spray painted with automotive enamel, the tumbleweed is transformed into something futuristic, glamorous, and barbed-wire aggressive, personifying the innuendo of the word ‘bush’.