If you've ever attended a local gallery or museum or patronized a Pittsburgh gift shop, you have probably seen the vibrant, nature-inspired prints of local artist Ashley Cecil. Her eye-catching works often strive to draw viewers into a more dire message about women and the environment, something Cecil plans to continue in a new project the public can weigh in on.
Cecil launched a poll for an upcoming installation described in an Instagram post as a “garden of piñatas” that will serve as a “metaphor for violence against women.” The poll asks the question, “If you were a piñata cracked open, what objects would fall out?” and encourages people to suggest items they believe best represent who they are and how they feel.
Cecil says the piñatas will act as symbols of “the female body or reproductive system,” shaped into somewhat vaginal-looking orchids, cherries, peaches, and papayas.
“So, this [show] is specifically about our traditions with using piñatas when we're celebrating birthdays, or whatever the case may be,” says Cecil. “But instead of them being full of candy and toys, they're going to be full of … Well, people are going to tell me.”
The suggested items, should they be chosen, will become part of a solo show set to debut in September at the Albany Museum of Art in Georgia. Cecil plans to hang the 12 resulting handmade piñatas in a corner of the gallery, with some already broken, their contents left spilled underneath, while others remain intact.
Cecil tells Pittsburgh City Paper that the piñata project expands on Violence in Eden, a series of paintings that debuted in January 2021 at the Sharpsburg-based ZYNKA Gallery. As described in a previous City Paper story, the show depicted what Cecil saw as “similarities between the oppression of women and the way humans dominate nature.”
Cecil says her work often examines the intersection of environmentalism and feminism, and has been read as embodying ecofeminism — a philosophy countering the harmful impact of patriarchal values on both women and nature. The upcoming show will expand on this, she says, by focusing on the abuse and suffering of women, including through the policing of their bodies and fertility rights, and of nature in the form of human-made pollution and climate change.
Cecil believes the treatment of piñatas plays well into this theme, adding that, since childhood, she always found it strange that people would “beat the shit out of this piñata full of things we loved.”
“Why do you need to kill it? Why are we trying to, you know, bludgeon it?” she says. “It felt odd to me. It still feels odd to me.”
She adds that, while piñatas are associated most prominently with Mexico, they have become a familiar part of celebrations throughout the United States, even being sold in the craft section at Target.
So far, Cecil says she has received a number of suggestions that fit a certain pattern or theme, including hourglasses, stopwatches, and calendars as representations of time. She looks forward to seeing if contributions are informed by “this fraught moment,” pointing out how some people suggested adding IUDs and other forms of female birth control as a way to acknowledge threats to reproductive rights following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Our societal response to, and our relationship with nature and women changed so much in the last few years, right? The climate crisis is getting worse, women are watching their rights get stripped away,” she says, adding, “So, I'm really interested in if people weigh in on how they're feeling about the present moment.”
To participate in the poll, visit linktr.ee/ashleycecil and click on "Take the Piñata Poll" to access the form. Cecil says she is "very eager to have more people weigh in on the concept," so the poll will "stay up as long as it needs to."
Pittsburgh artist Ashley Cecil launches public poll for ecofeminist piñata project
