“Threaded Together” by Johanna Falzone
Johanna Falzone
Threaded Together is a Site-Specific Installation work previously on view at a Howard Johnson Motel. This work symbolizes how all women have a common thread, being through menstruation. Each pad and tampon is stitched differently to show how each woman may feel about this cycle. Images range from loving, reproductive, to squiggle blobs interpreting these impressions on what menstruation symbolizes. The installation was placed with the toilet because this is where women go to change tampons and pads. The toilet is also where fortunate or unfortunate reproductive events may take place such as miscarriage or using a pregnancy test. No matter how a woman feels about reproduction, this is a cycle women all have in common. It is why women must empathize with one another and also celebrate despite what one’s personal beliefs may be.
“Death of Fertility” by Elaine Marie
Elaine Marie
Death of Fertility is part of the Talitha Cumi series. This painting is about menopause and the end of procreation. The woman in this painting ponders her reproductive years. The fertility doll, anthurium flower, stagnant water, Sande statue, and grass skirt provide clues to the hidden messages in the painting. The fertility doll represents the years I spent battling infertility prior to the birth of my son. The anthurium flower blooms in Hawaii where I lived immediately after my marriage. It represents the birth of my first born. The stagnant red water represents menopause. The African statues on the left are from the Sande Society. The Sande Society promotes women’s’ political and social status and solidarity. Inspired by Surrealist and Symbolist art, the painting is infused with other symbols the viewer must interpret and discover.
“Cutting” by Dafna Rehavia
Dafna Rehavia
I am an Israeli-born artist and art-therapist, living in Pittsburgh PA, US.
My work is informed by a critical, feminist, and multicultural approach. I deal with themes that are related to survival, identity and healing, and their complex relationship to women’s experience. Through my art work Cutting I challenge the objectified and dehumanized phenomenon of Female Genital Mutilation that is still practiced in various cultures which respond to authoritative discourse. It is through the artistic object that I would like to bring recognition, awareness and visibility to what is a fundamental violation of womens’ bodies and rights. The use of art exposes the viewer to what is so hard to face and tolerate. This body of works is made of molding clay that was kneaded, shaped, pocked, cut and stitched with dry leaves and strings and stained in reddish-brown tint.
For more information, visit www.wideningthecycle.com. For questions, please email the curator and exhibit planner, Jen Lewis, at info [at] wideningthecycle [dot] com.
