“Don’t Be Shy, Come Say Hi” - Installation by Amanda Meuth

I Need That Art brings this through provoking installation that went viral on social media to St. Louis!

Viral Facebook Post — Evansville ABC News Story

Artist's Description:

Growing up, I found it very difficult to embrace being a girl. My earliest memory of being catcalled is when I was 10, and I remember I didn't know what the man had meant by what he said, but I remembered how gross it felt. I've grown more comfortable in being who I am, and at the end of the day, I love being a woman. I just hate being a girl.

For my project, I first set up a profile and had 22 as my age. I made sure to have the age gap wide enough between us that they were at least 15 when I was born. To grow the project, I changed my age and said I was 17. I screenshotted all of the men who were okay with these age differences, whether I was 22 or 17, and decided to put their faces on the walls as if they were permanently staring. Many of them asked me if I was okay with such an age difference and if I could handle an "older dominant man." I was called delicious, adorable, cute, etc.

I got about 300 from Evansville before the number started to die, but I moved locations to keep growing the project. Texas was the area that brought in the most results. As of now, I have about 1,650 faces, but the number still grows every day. I embroidered some of the gross things the men had said to me on the body, and I set up a bedroom scene to make everything feel more personal.

The title came from a message a 67-year-old man had sent me. I didn't respond to his first message, so he said, "Don't be shy, come say hi," followed a few hours later by, "I promise I won't bite ...yet". I thought that was perfect for my project, and it was even better as it was supplied by one of the men himself. I sincerely hope you don't recognize anyone on the wall because I know three of them, and it's sad how common this issue is.