Joy

Joy

Caucasian background  ·  Vaginal birth: No  ·  Created 2022

She named her vulva Marilyn — from Marilyn Monroe. Beautiful, adored on the outside, but deep inside feeling not quite loved enough. She came to this process wanting to find a truer name. She had a vision before she arrived: herself and her children, sitting with oracle cards, asking — which yoni is from Mami? That image brought her here. What she found in the portrait was joy that was still becoming itself. Present but not yet fully expressed. Visible to those who looked carefully.

“If I was asked to describe my vulva in one word it would be JOY.”

I like my vulva. But because I don’t see her that often, I don’t feel as connected as I do with, for example, my hands, which I see all the time. I blamed her in the past for not performing as I wanted during sex. However, today I am very gentle to her and listen to her needs.

I was magnetised to receive this artwork because I had a vision of me and my children, doing oracle cards and asking them — which yoni is from Mami?

If I was asked to describe my vulva in one word it would be JOY. Looking at the portrait for a longer time let me recognise how much joy is in her. But it’s still a bit hidden. You can see it, but she doesn’t quite believe in herself yet.

Before this portrait I called my vulva Marilyn — from Marilyn Monroe. Beautiful, but deep inside feeling not loved enough. Since looking at the portrait, JOY fits better. Even if it’s not fully expressed yet, I see and feel the potential of her.

Joy is not performed. This portrait captures it in the moment before it fully arrives — which is, perhaps, where it lives most honestly.

This portrait is part of the Femessence Women’s Celebration Series — a body of work by artist and arts therapist Caris Pepper honouring the sacred feminine through vulva portrait art. Each portrait in this series is becoming a card in the Femessence Vulva Portrait Oracle deck, coming 2027.