WHAT'S WYMYN?

Why do we do what we do?
What propels us forward to new challenges?

At some level every action is fuelled by selfish motives, whether it's appreciation, a sense of satisfaction or simply money. Money buys "stuff", of which I am an ardent fan, so I spend half of my time teaching.The other half is spent volunteering in the arts, where I love what I do but don't earn a bean. However, people occasionally hear of what I do, and this slowly growing reputation is my personal "fuel".
Recently, Barbara Struthers called me needing an artist for International women's Day (IWD). This event was a huge celebration of women's achievements, struggles and ambitions. I did point out that I knew so little about feminism that I couldn't even spell it, but as you can see I learned much along the way. Until now, my only experiences of feminists have been extreme activists on TV, burning their hair to make a point. But apparently most feminists are actually normal people. So, armed with this new knowledge, I accepted the challenge to design and build my first sculpture.
After my first design failed to embody any feminist thinking whatsoever, a second design arose from the ashes, epitomizing self-acceptance, strength and compassion. We called her "Womyn", and spent two months building her against the beautiful backdrop of Higashi Betsuin Temple, At three times life-size, she sat hugging her knees, her smiling face surrounded by sun-like rays of yellow, orange and golden hair. Her face was a collage of Chinese characters and English words portraying women's qualities; her body a feminist purple with a central panel of messages written by international women.
I had encouraged my women friends to define what womanhood meant to them. There followed a wealth of powerful inspiration with which even one message could have cast a spell. So many women benefited from this self-exploration that Womyn became not just a sculpture built from wood, wire and paint but a conuit for awareness.
Womyn is an educational insight into women's needs and beliefs and if we are to create a peaceful society with common goals, then each gender needs to learn from the other and not exclude it. Consequently, we offered Womyn to the YMCA for display.
As you read this, her two-month stay there will be over and as yet we haven't found a second location but the messages will remain, as a book, for future IWDs.
Every challenge is accompanied by potential failure. As I helped carry Womyn through the streets of Sakae, surrounded by Korean drums and hollering, I learned that I was capable of more than I'd thought. BOOM! There it was - my second selfish fuel - success. Coupled with the desire to turn my skills outward to help others, my fuel had burned brightly enough for me to accept the challenge, and boy was I glad that I did!（This article was originally written for the Nagoya AVENUES magazine. To our great regret, we couldn't find the second location and so Womyn was burnt.）

Lisa Ginty-British artist resident in Nagoya.