The idea of the perfect female form is something that has changed greatly since ancient times, and Shell contrasts classic and modern-day ideals on its two sides.

The female form on the front of the piece is a modern day beauty: her body tan and toned with fuller breasts and short, dark straight hair. Further contrasting Botticelli’s Venus are her artificially highlighted bright red lips and nails, and her chrome glasses and black high heeled shoes.  The artist is seen in the reflection of her glasses, hinting that even though she is meant to be the embodiment of beauty to all, she is still subject to the hand and opinions of her creator. Matching her glasses is her chrome handgun, showing that women today can be just as strong as men.  Although her weapon, self-assured stance and accessories confront the viewer with her confidence, she still covers herself, alluding to the female stigmas that even the modern-day woman cannot escape. Like Botticelli’s Venus she finds herself floating in the sea, but is standing on a much different type of shell, that of a larger than life bullet engraved with the initials of its maker and its diameter.

Behind the modern day Venus is a view of Koko Head crater and Sandy Beach, places of great natural beauty as well as full of human culture and social interaction. To the east of Sandy Beach and around the corner on the inside of Shell is the distant point of Alan Davis and more importantly Pele’s Chair, a natural rock formation that is said to be the throne of the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire. The chair faces out to sea and looks upon the ghost of another ancient goddess: Venus, her red locks floating above the ocean and gently framing the empty form of what is the classic ideal of beauty.  The shape of this piece is very organic, with flowing curves and a rounded, enclosed space that are suggestive of a giant shell as well as that of a female body, both central concepts in Shell.