NAKED BIKE: ABOUT

‘Ducati Lover’, photo-collage, 96” x 40”; installation at MotorGrrl, Brooklyn, NY

NAKED BIKE

The extensive history of womxn’s bodies, nude and clothed, portrayed in art has historically ranged from casually misogynistic to outright sexism. The struggle for womxn’s rights, equality, and bodily autonomy is ongoing. NAKED BIKE is womxn bikers owning their agency, and celebrating the narrative of their bodies with a machine traditionally associated not only with men, but sexuality, rebellion and freedom.

The motorcycles portrayed cease to be mere moving vehicles but become a symbol and extension of womxn’s sensuality and autonomy. The vehicle’s curves echoing the form of the body, the motorcycle functions as a lover, a prop, an expression of their athleticism. The womxn bikers who have volunteered for the project share a love of riding and a willingness to be vulnerable for an idea: re-imagining the portrayal of their bodies in combination with their beloved machines. The images of NAKED BIKE are as diverse as the individuals being portrayed.

Womxn riders and machine can be one—cyborgs rejecting the boundaries and social mores that separate human from machine. In some pictures the women are covered in gear for the sport-which also functions here as armor, a mysterious shell, a hidden space. In other images, that protective layer is gone. Naked, the womxn project what protects them, or not, as they leave ‘bike-space’ and walk into female.

NAKED BIKE isn’t just documenting the visibility of the growing number of womxn motorcyclists, but a change in the very culture we’re in. Collectively this project is a celebration of women’s achievements, collaborative spirit, and fierce tenacity. NAKED BIKE is about the journey, the progression of a provocative and culture-shifting ride.