Jessica Philile Mawuiena Foli (Pretoria)

2025 Sasol New Signatures Finalist

Pussy: A natural scent

Digital print on archival etching cotton rag

Edition 1 of 5

46,5 cm x 37 cm

Artist’s Statement

This work is a response to the societal pressure for women’s vaginas (pussies) to smell a certain way, like vanilla, strawberry, lavender or pineapple. When I was growing up, women’s magazines and teen magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan promoted this quest for a ‘vanilla-smelling’ pussy. Social media continues to spread this rhetoric with influencers posting content about foods to eat to achieve a ‘favourable’ smelling pussy. This work is a playful comment on the smell and scent of a woman’s vagina and advocates for women and popular culture to celebrate our bodies just as they are.

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