Before Sexual Difference: The Art and Science of Genital Embryogenesis

Does the embryological state of genital undifferentiation suggest the possibility of a collapse of gender from male and female singularities to a more complex, layered concept of sexuality where each of the sexes can be seen one within the other? Could the sexual body be represented as an ontologically transparent skin through which art and science are mutually visible? These questions are posed by the author in the form of cross-disciplinary works: original biologicakisual research into the development of the genitals in the human embryo, 3D models, drawings, videos, paintings on the body and didactic lecture-performances. The works draw upon disparate fields of knowledge-linguistics, psychoanalysis, the histories of visual art and biological science, the subjectivity of the artist—to propose alternative terms for the construction of sex, sexuality and gender during this time of crisis in sexual difference as it stands at the intersection of feminism, science, art and politics.