AUTORÉFÉRENCE is a set of 50 pieces sculpted in natural white clay. The work is placed on a
metal surgical tray under a rectangular acrylic glass base. The work’s title AUTORÉFÉRENCE,
which means: reference to oneself, is by default a reference by the artist to her own body.
By default, and in a serial gesture that restores a community of vulvas. The surgical tray on
which the clay pieces are placed evokes the relationship between anatomy, the female
organs and the role of science, functional and social assignments. The tray evokes a kitchen
utensil, and more specifically a cooking or culinary presentation tray. For the artist, from a
family originally from Constantine in Algeria, it evokes the preparation of countless festive
mignardises, decorated with their little white paper boxes. These cakes are made for a long
time in the kitchens, by the women and exclusively between them. Presented and served by
women to men and their families, they leave an element of themselves in these cakes,
prisoners of communal and social servitude (the family), of patriarchy (the father, then the
husband), of other people’s pleasure. Vulva cakes evoke the intimacy of kitchens, where
words and testimonies become subversive, unfolding in unisex, between women, sheltered
from scrutiny and judgement.