Sculptor seeks to reveal body’s universal beauty

The University Wellness Center is sponsoring an exhibition of sculptures created by Kansas City artist Larry Kirkwood for The Body Image Project, a visual commentary on the way body shape affects self-image and the perceptions of others.

To learn more about The Body Image Project, go to www.kirkwoodstudios.com.

Twenty plaster casts molded from living models will be on display in the J.W. Jones Student Union Sunday Feb. 17 through Wednesday, Feb. 20. Kirkwood will give a free lecture about the project at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the union's third-floor Tower View Room.

Through his work, Kirkwood seeks to challenge the validity of judgments about someone's character or abilities based on their body size, apparent physical condition, pigmentation, age or gender. He began The Body Image Project in 1993 in an effort to show people that they can learn to appreciate their own bodies and the bodies of others in a healthy, truthful, accepting way.

"The notion that body size, skin color, age, etc. alone is a reliable measure of a person's physical, emotional and moral well being is simply false," Kirkwood has said in describing the intended effect of his sculptures.

"An excellent example is a 35-year-old female I recently worked with. She commented that people continually tell her what a 'good body' she has and how 'lucky' she is. She wanted to be a part of this project to prove how mistaken that assessment is. She was diagnosed with brain cancer and recently it has spread (to) her spine and into her ribs and lungs. To make judgments about this person from her appearance totally misses the mark of reality."

Kirkwood believes that people should learn to look at the human body in ways that reveal "the real concept of beauty" rather than accepting externally imposed standards that arbitrarily define sex appeal or attractiveness.

"Through this exhibit, it can be seen that the concept of 'beauty' applies to all shapes and sizes, not just to 'a' shape and size," he said.

For more information about The Body Image Project exhibit at Northwest, call Vince Shisler, health services operations coordinator, at 660.562.1021 (ext. 1021 on campus).

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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