Sword or Dessert

Sword or Dessert

The project MANUAL begins with my experience of sexual violence in childhood and the passivity I internalised as a woman. Through drawing, sculpture, puppetry, set, film, fabric and soft sculpture, the work reveals how the body is objectified under external pressure and structured to operate as if following a manual. The work does not remain at the level of a personal event. It lays bare the imposed femininity and oppression operating within social structures. The objectified female body moves across the categories of puppet, animal, flesh and machine, and is pushed to an extreme through explicit excess and distortion. Fragmented and hybridised, the body foregrounds a language of disgust and fear. Yet by presenting oppression and violence so explicitly, this grotesque and excessive body twists and critiques the brutality and absurdity of the structures that produce them. The project resists trauma, internalised oppression and control, and insists on the possibility of a body capable of moving beyond them.

The project MANUAL begins with my experience of sexual violence in childhood and the passivity I internalised as a woman. Through drawing, sculpture, puppetry, set, film, fabric and soft sculpture, the work reveals how the body is objectified under external pressure and structured to operate as if following a manual. The work does not remain at the level of a personal event. It lays bare the imposed femininity and oppression operating within social structures. The objectified female body moves across the categories of puppet, animal, flesh and machine, and is pushed to an extreme through explicit excess and distortion. Fragmented and hybridised, the body foregrounds a language of disgust and fear. Yet by presenting oppression and violence so explicitly, this grotesque and excessive body twists and critiques the brutality and absurdity of the structures that produce them. The project resists trauma, internalised oppression and control, and insists on the possibility of a body capable of moving beyond them.

The project MANUAL begins with my experience of sexual violence in childhood and the passivity I internalised as a woman. Through drawing, sculpture, puppetry, set, film, fabric and soft sculpture, the work reveals how the body is objectified under external pressure and structured to operate as if following a manual. The work does not remain at the level of a personal event. It lays bare the imposed femininity and oppression operating within social structures. The objectified female body moves across the categories of puppet, animal, flesh and machine, and is pushed to an extreme through explicit excess and distortion. Fragmented and hybridised, the body foregrounds a language of disgust and fear. Yet by presenting oppression and violence so explicitly, this grotesque and excessive body twists and critiques the brutality and absurdity of the structures that produce them. The project resists trauma, internalised oppression and control, and insists on the possibility of a body capable of moving beyond them.

▼WORKS
▼WORKS

Sword of Art, 2024

Acrylic paint, oil pastel and thread on canvas

410 × 318 mm


Sword of Art, 2024

Acrylic paint, oil pastel and thread on canvas

410 × 318 mm


Sword of Art, 2024

Acrylic paint, oil pastel and thread on canvas

410 × 318 mm


Sweet Fruit Cake — Approximately 2,560 kcal, 2024

Mixed-media sculpture: human-hair mannequin head, clay, acrylic paint and ceramic plate

375 × 280 × 280 mm, including display base

Sweet Fruit Cake — Approximately 2,560 kcal, 2024

Mixed-media sculpture: human-hair mannequin head, clay, acrylic paint and ceramic plate

375 × 280 × 280 mm, including display base

The Cake Pouf, 2024

Mixed-media sculpture

Clay, seashells, acrylic paint, metal bells and beads

380 × 220 × 220 mm

MANUAL —Puppet: Machine, 2024
Puppet sculpture
Mixed media: clockwork parts, music-box mechanism, discarded appliance parts and wind-up toy parts
445 × 105 × 100 mm

Distorting Filter, 2024

Mixed-media sculpture

Mirror film, acrylic paint, beads and foam

300 × 230 × 230 mm

Distorting Filter, 2024

Mixed-media sculpture

Mirror film, acrylic paint, beads and foam

300 × 230 × 230 mm

Distorted Martyrs I–VI, 2024

Pen, watercolour and graphite on paper

Each 187 × 245 mm

Distorted Martyrs I–VI, 2024

Pen, watercolour and graphite on paper

Each 187 × 245 mm

Private Relics I–IX, 2024
Mixed-media collage incorporating religious imagery and collected personal objects
Dimensions variable

Private Relics I–IX, 2024
Mixed-media collage incorporating religious imagery and collected personal objects
Dimensions variable

Sword or Dessert — Soft Sculpture Design Line-up, 2024
Drawings and digital illustrations for wearable soft sculptures
Ten works, dimensions variable

Sword or Dessert — Soft Sculpture Design Line-up, 2024
Drawings and digital illustrations for wearable soft sculptures
Ten works, dimensions variable

Sword or Dessert — Soft Sculpture Design Line-up, 2024
Drawings and digital illustrations for wearable soft sculptures
Ten works, dimensions variable

Sword or Dessert, 2024

Wearable soft sculpture

Mixed media

Dimensions variable

Sword or Dessert, 2024

Wearable soft sculpture

Mixed media

Dimensions variable

Scent-Obedience, Disobedience

& Dual State Vessel, 2026

Mixed media

150 x 65 x 85 mm

Scent-Obedience, Disobedience

& Dual State Vessel, 2026

Mixed media

150 x 65 x 85 mm

Scent-Obedience, Disobedience

& Dual State Vessel, 2026

Mixed media

150 x 65 x 85 mm

© 2026 Sol Lee. All rights reserved.

© 2026 Sol Lee. All rights reserved.