Didem Tereyagoglu
This sculpture was created during my undergraduate studies and exhibited at CERModern in Ankara. I built it using newspaper clay molded into a female torso, covered with nails that pierce out from the surface. The piece explores the fragile boundary between self-protection and imposed vulnerability, questioning how external forces shape identity and bodily autonomy.
We often protect ourselves with the very things that hurt us. The nails represent both defense and pain—how we armor up, but also how we carry invisible wounds that become part of our form.
To question the gaze, gender, and societal expectations placed on the female body. This was my way of asking: Where does control begin? Who is watching? And what happens to identity when it’s shaped by outside forces?
I created this sculpture using real needles—each one placed by hand. The physical pain of working with them became part of the process, echoing the emotional pain women endure through judgment, bias, and constant scrutiny. This piece manifests how women are pierced daily by the thoughts of others—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The body transforms under that weight. We end up wearing the needles as part of our skin. But this isn’t just about pain—it’s about resilience. Every sharp word, every false accusation, every unfair expectation is returned. We reflect it back, not with violence, but with transformation.
