Sculptural Installation, 2022

Dust

About the work

On the 24th of June 2022, the court case enabling women access to safe abortion, Roe V Wade, was overturned in America. Unsafe abortions claim 13% of all maternal mortality rates, which will increase due to legislation. While women currently have access to abortion in Australia, this is not always guaranteed. NSW only decriminalised abortion three years ago; in WA it is still under criminal code, and there are still financial impediments.

Recontextualising the topic of reproductive rights into the Australian landscape, Dust forces the audience to contemplate the role of the bystander as they consider the implications of walking over and destroying surgical tools used to perform a safe abortion.

The artwork thrusts the audience into an uncomfortable environment and asks them to consider their accountability. Resembling bones, tools used in a surgical abortion are displayed on the floor and reimagined in handmade white porcelain and are thus emblematic of the decay of rights. These are laid out geometrically outside of the pathway from one room to another, indicating the error in stepping on them and underlining carelessness and ignorance in the community. This erosion of rights is embodied in the soundscape, where the tactile imagery of each item breaking projects discomfort onto audiences, and ultimately allows the audience to reflect on the objects’ importance and thus action their preservation. Each cacophonous crunch of the audio projects the injury inflicted upon bodies with uteruses when confined by inhumane legislation.

DUST

DUST

This work was exhibited at Blenheim house in partnership with Randwick City council for ‘Same Bed Different Dreams’ exhibition. This was exhibited between the 19th and the 2nd of September, 2022.

Previous
Previous

'Trophy', Sculptural Installation, 2023

Next
Next

'Golf Club Membership?!' sculptural installation (2022)