
Am I Normal?
Ivory soap sculpture, 6” X 1” X 2”
Digital Laser Prints, 11” X 17”
2025
A critique of the 1945 Search for Norma contest, which sought a woman in Ohio matching Norma, the “most normal” American female. Norma was a eugenic ideal created by Dr. Robert L. Dickinson and artist Abram Belskie. Norma's measurements originated from those of 15,000 American women, published by the Bureau of Home Economics in 1941. All non-white data within the set (presumably Black, Asian, Latinx, Eastern European, Italian, and Jewish) was erased. Dickinson further reduced this data set using ideological refinement, excluding women with signs of aging or altered bodies. Ivory soap echoes Norma’s original white alabaster form and connects to the purity obsession in eugenics, with the soap historically advertised as “99.44% pure.” The installation includes the official entry form and two photographs: the contest winner, Martha Skidmore (who still failed to meet all of Norma's measurements), and me participating in the contest, highlighting the absurdity and violence of “normalcy.”