The Home Body is a wearable sculpture that explores gender identity, motherhood, and personal transformation.
The Biogrown Babies are the heart of The Home Body- a cross-collaboration with nature and technology to produce a living baby. The Home Body is a sculptural, wearable dress, a trans-parent body made from Worbla, warped and worn. Inside the dress will be a glass uterus with a small baby, still attached to the placenta. The baby is suspended in utero at the border of two lives—one in the womb, one outside. Through participation in the installation, we share a mirrored relationship with them.
The piece grew from my own struggles with motherhood and the fear of not having a safe space to become a parent one day. As a trans person who doesn’t present in a binary way, I’ve had to navigate both my identity and society’s assumptions of who I am expected to be. I was at a crossroads when I realized my body was growing one way and not the other. I was at an age where I hadn’t connected motherhood to the female body—they were two separate thoughts. Years later, I accepted my need to transition, and unknowingly, I had begun to grieve a future I had yet to live. Having a family is scary for anyone, but society’s attitude toward gender-diverse people means I have even more to consider. At 16, I medically transitioned to go through the puberty that was right for me. But this immediately opened up conversations about my fertility and ability to conceive a child, with no regard for the up-to-date research on HRT and fertility treatments. I was simply told, “this may make you infertile,” and this opened an emotional game of probability in my head. I’ve grown into adulthood with this obsession and fear that I might never be able to experience parenthood safely—largely because of a lack of education in the medical community and the prejudice of wider society. I hope to see a change in attitudes in my lifetime because I did not choose to live in a timeline where my safety is continually tested based on what I wear or who I love.
The Home Body is my way of processing this grief, finding acceptance, and challenging the societal biases that affect trans and gender-diverse people. It’s a reminder that life doesn’t end after transition; it’s only the beginning.
We are all different people with different needs, but one feeling remains familiar yet distant: our time in the womb. With support, this project can bring these deeply personal reflections to life, helping others who share similar struggles. Digital Biogrown Baby design by Leo Carlton. Special thanks to Kaz Tsuji, Karsten Goodwin, Verity Cleary, and Ege Tan for their invaluable support in developing this piece.
The funding of the homebody project has been made possible through my Student Finance England maintenance payments, along with self-funded contributions from part-time work while developing the project. The homebody is my graduate project in my final year leaving Central Saint Martins. and it holds deep personal significance. At the start of my final year, I found myself homeless, an experience that caused immense distress. As an adopted child and a queer individual, I’ve long grappled with feelings of placelessness. However, the basic human need for security and stability has never been more apparent to me. Now that I’m fortunate to be in a safer place I wanted to highlight the profound importance of a home through this project. Your financial support will enable me to bring this project to life and build a place for rest that can inspire warmth in others ❤️
Visit https://www.quinnely.com/portfolio/the-home-body for more information