ARTWORK COMMENTARY: Chasing Autonomy

Finished: July 2022

Dimensions:

I painted this in reaction the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It depicts a leyak, an Indonesian folk creature that I use to represent the present times, reaching for her uterus. Trapped in a box, she's so close, yet so far.

I painted this after the end of my senior year, a time where I was heavily influenced by the dark themes and styles of Francis Bacon. It was my first-time painting with the heavy contrast I use in my graphite drawings. Usually, when I use color, I avoid using black or white because I believe it muddies the coloring overall.

I have a lot of thoughts about the concept of "now", especially now when we're in the trenches of what feels like a race to strip away every human right imaginable. I feel as though we're being ripped at the throat as every minority's cry falls on deaf ears. I want to stay vigilant and positive, but I am not much of an optimistic person. At the time of painting this, I was deeply saddened. Devastated for every uterus-bearing person in the United States, as we slowly become relegated to the baby-makers those in power want us to be. Equality was so close, yet so far, and I wonder if it will ever come at all.