The sculpture “Bone Ladies” is intended to encourage conversation among viewers about dramatic changes for all American women, since the SCOTUS "Dobb’s Decision". It was created as a protest piece against the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The parchment paper “womb”, at the top of this sculpture, is created by the artist from a British Indenture, scribed and wax sealed in 1627. It is a discarded land grant from a husband to a wife. When this parchment was given to the artist she happened to be thinking about broken contracts, the Dobbs decision in particular. She had started a series of folded parchment shapes with embroidered and beaded details to symbolize the emotional consequences of broken legal contracts between individuals.
Americans now live in a world where women may be legally forced to bear children, regardless of the physical or psychosocial consequences. The sculpture's paper-womb represents our American legal system’s power over women’s bodies and personal healthcare.
The gold leaf represents the perceived preciousness of an American woman’s life and body to herself. All people tend to express their independence (or not) by the way they dress. Our bodies, however dressed, however violated, with spirits depleted, with no right to privacy and no freedom of choice as a U.S. citizen, are now exposed to the entire world as worth nothing but flesh for the taking by our government.
The dolls and the turning of the sculpture represent the passage of a lifetime as a psychological and spiritual journey. As wards of the state, a woman's entire life may now endure the imposition of degradation and suffering, as criminals do. The amulets and handwork of lace and fabric represent the ways women often find personal consolation and hold on to the dream a kinder gentler world beyond bondage and violent assault.
The bones represent the skeletons of the "Crones" who have told stories of caution and wisdom since time immemorial.
Artist’s Narrative
