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The Marquise de Coëtlogonby KristinMy inspiration is an excerpt from a letter written in 1671 by Madame de Sévigné to her then-pregnant daughter advising that she herself not consume chocolate as: ” … the marquise de Coëtlogon took so much chocolate, being pregnant last year, that she produced a little boy who was as black as the devil who soon died.” This story seems so outlandish to our modern sensibilities but I did find it intriguing, and certainly it offers an interesting view of chocolate. I decided that the story could be expressed visually as a cross between the erotic frivolity of a Fragonard painting and the asymmetry, improvisation, and multiple patterning of a slave "story quilt." Design-wise, the Marquise is nursing the child so we know it's hers, but her stance is also showing that she is the sexual consumer, both of the chocolate and of the not quite visible serving boy. See my blog post for the full story. |
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