Miss Cox (Nude – Arising from the Ground) develops from Mariken Wessels’ long-standing fascination with an anonymous woman photographed by Eadweard Muybridge in 1885. In Muybridge’s sequential study Arising from the Ground (plate 286), the woman—thought to have been named Miss Cox—is shown moving from a reclining position to standing upright across twenty-four images.

Struck by the physical presence and visual power of this figure, Wessels expanded the historical source into a broader artistic investigation. The project includes large clay sculptures inspired by the body’s mass and movement, alongside photographs of obese female models submerged underwater. Within these images, the body is transformed by water into shifting, almost sculptural landscapes.

The publication combines underwater photographs, documentation of the sculptures, studio scenes, sketches and archival research materials, tracing the evolution of Wessels’ process and her engagement with representation, corporeality and perception.