If only I would be a flower

the first vagina in history on the cover of Playboy

PLAYBOY_08_2022_50-COVER_32_Marisa-Papen


Since 'Flower of Life', we have been exploring and exposing the cultural misunderstanding of the vagina. Playboy Germany selected Marisa as one of the 50 artists to art direct a cover for their 50th anniversary issue. We felt this collaboration would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate the vagina and to evoke curiosity and change from within. Readers of male magazines would greatly benefit from a more wholesome view of women and femininity. 

After the invitation, we promptly replied with a proposal to exhibit our ‘Flower of Life’ image. We received an ecstatic answer but Playboy’s lawyers advised against it — a vagina cannot be publicly displayed on newstands. We then countered with a concept that would graciously mock censorship. What if we would cover Marisa’s flower with thousands of tiny flowers? Playboy said yes.

‘If only I would be a flower’ is a celebration of nature yet it is a longing to be celebrated for the beauty we naturally inhibit. It is a play with the edges of censorship and an anticipation for the freedom that is awaiting us. It is the first vagina in history on the cover of Playboy. 

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MODEL - MARISA
PHOTOGRAPER - MICHAEL

ART DIRECTORS - MARISA & MICHAEL
DIGITAL ARTIST - TWISTEDPOLY (www.twistedpoly.com)

process

We gathered the tiniest flowers, arranged them by size and color, organized our tools and then Marisa laid herself with her legs opened towards the sun for Michael to dress them onto her vagina. We attempted this scenario multiple times but the result did not live up to our vision. The smallest flowers were still too big and the bouquet would fall apart before completion.

Our determination guided us towards Nejc Polovsak (twistedpoly), a digital artist who’s work elegantly builds worlds of abstraction with delicate textures and colors. Working together over the course of a week, we finally arrived at a visual expression that matched our imagination. Nejc rendered our original image and adhered 30,000+ flowers in different stages of blooming.

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white-flower

if only I would be a flower
I would not be separate
I would be amid
I would be from
I would be in 

the kinetic grass would sway against my form
and intuitively I would move as well 
we would move together to the rhythm of the loving mysterious heartbeat of life

I would greet everything with the beauty I have forever absorbed to nourish others
I would open for the light of heavens to seep through me 
because to participate in opening is to touch the greatest grace 

however,

today, I am nature embodied abloom
tomorrow, I will be a flower
today, I grace you with the love I have basked in during many lifetimes
tomorrow, I will talk to you about the cycles of life

 today, I remember the freedom of my sovereign body
tomorrow, my petals will taste the sweetness of giving clouds
today, my roots stretch and belong to the deep wise earth
tomorrow, I will open

today, I live and grow among nature
tomorrow, my beauty will belong too

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