Activist Art: My Body Isn't Mine
Completed October 2010.
9"x12"; pen&ink on vellum.
"We live in a world that tells us to manufacture lives without allowing us to live our own / How can we be of service / when we never even own our parts?"
The above lines are from a poem by Pussies, Pens, and Politics, a spoken word duo that I had the honor of seeing perform when I was in Philadelphia for the 2010 Reproductive Justice Arts Festival. These lines directly inspired this artwork.
This is a depiction of how we dehumanize and torture women by valuing them only for their reproductive capabilities. It is also commentary on the horrific stories of women who are shackled during childbirth; women who are denied lifesaving medical care because it might harm the fetus; and how "pro-life" framing of the abortion issue specifically and deliberately devalues existing people at the expense of potential ones. Even if you consider a fetus to be a full-fledged human being, no human is, or should be, required to sacrifice their own body to support another's life! That is like mandating that people be organ donors. However laudable an individual decision it may be, the government has no right to require it.
Read my blog post about this piece.
Original is for sale. Contact the artist for more information.
9"x12"; pen&ink on vellum.
"We live in a world that tells us to manufacture lives without allowing us to live our own / How can we be of service / when we never even own our parts?"
The above lines are from a poem by Pussies, Pens, and Politics, a spoken word duo that I had the honor of seeing perform when I was in Philadelphia for the 2010 Reproductive Justice Arts Festival. These lines directly inspired this artwork.
This is a depiction of how we dehumanize and torture women by valuing them only for their reproductive capabilities. It is also commentary on the horrific stories of women who are shackled during childbirth; women who are denied lifesaving medical care because it might harm the fetus; and how "pro-life" framing of the abortion issue specifically and deliberately devalues existing people at the expense of potential ones. Even if you consider a fetus to be a full-fledged human being, no human is, or should be, required to sacrifice their own body to support another's life! That is like mandating that people be organ donors. However laudable an individual decision it may be, the government has no right to require it.
Read my blog post about this piece.
Original is for sale. Contact the artist for more information.