By Haley Spencer
2nd Place, Visual (3D), Create | Encounter 2020
Artist Statement:
This piece was originally created as a way to process the grief and sorrow of my dear friend after her abortion. The sculpture presents the mother’s body as an anonymous (and colorless) empty vessel, as women’s bodies are often discussed. The wound left behind is deep and unable to heal; part of her is forever missing. It became a symbolic piece for me, after my own traumatic birth experience, representing the wounds of motherhood for those who encounter a lack of compassion in our current maternal and perinatal healthcare system as they birth life, or loss.