This painting was made in response to South Carolina House Bill 3457 (known as the “Heartbeat Bill”) being upheld by the South Carolina Supreme Court. This bill effectively limits the ability of a pregnant woman to seek abortion services after a doctor has detected a fetal heartbeat (typically happening around 6 weeks). This was a personal work for me. I am a woman who has struggled with infertility, hinted at by the cyst that was painted on one of the ovaries in the painting. Pregnancy is not straightforward for me, personally, or for many women in South Carolina.
This painting is all about control. The uterus is chained, like property, as a masculine hand holds the key to unlocking it. This surreal symbolism is painted with the backdrop of the Lowcountry sunset that lures so many people to this beautiful area. The lovely landscape is the backdrop to a fight in which rights are being stripped and the sun is setting on bodily autonomy.
I was influenced and inspired by the surrealist and feminist work of Frida Kahlo, whose own fertility and health struggles were documented in her work. Her imagery is often brutal and unflinching in the way it portrays the turmoil she felt and her expected role in the world. I, too, feel that the world’s expectations of a woman’s role in society is limited, often only valuing our bodies to satisfy the male gaze and propagate the lineage of those men. Through artistic expression, I am able to use my voice and process my feelings about how the government has limited my right to bodily autonomy.
