Taking the bodily, medical and performative contents that make up my artistic practice, I use my own orchestrated experiences of medical tourism procedures as a public platform to encourage discussion about the cultural, political and social meanings assigned to the female body and its capabilities. The bodily interventions include tubal ligation in Thailand, hymenoplasty in Poland, IVF consultations in Bulgaria and full breast tattoos in Latvia. I believe that upholding the high status of motherhood and treating childfree people as deviations from the standard of motherhood is clearly limiting to childfree women in terms of their acceptance as valuable contributors to the society and as people free of biological determinism. The aim of my artistic research is to contribute to the growing field of investigation in the childfree lifestyle and to question the standard of the normativity of motherhood for women in the Western society and to link the social stigmatization of childfree people with investigations in sociology, performativity, bioethics, body art, feminism and queer theory.
The Next Thing, Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, Moving Image Gallery, Bury, UK
In performances, videos, I confront stereotypes and tropes of gender representation to create a space of uncertainty. I research and deconstruct the ways in which women are portrayed in popular culture and on the Internet. I contrast the natural world and the outdoors, to trends, themes and memes from the web, mashing up Kardashian culture with the rural, forested environment in New Hampshire where I live. Thighbrows, thigh gaps, and facial masks become fodder for my work. I use humor and sarcasm as an entry point into issues of gender, power and class in order to call out the invisible structures and sexism that pervades both the physical world and the online world. Masks, makeup and identity are also a fascination of mine.
Often employing physical comedy, my videos document performances in which I explore the pressures and contradictions I face on a daily basis. I push concepts from web videos and advertising to the absurd so that the content becomes humorous and sometimes alarming.
Since becoming a mother, this experience has become part of my work. I have created videos to address the infantilization of expectant mothers and reality of caring for children and parents. Personal, sometimes awkward, yet open and inviting, the work emphasizes the physicality of the body, showing both vulnerability and strength, following in the tradition of feminist performance art. This work comes from a place of experience and honesty.