LOVELY PARASITE

Started just before my daughter’s birth in the early years after 9/11, this project was shelved and unfinished for 17 years. It was intended to address my anxiety about having a child during an era of heightened political uncertainty and fear about terrorism, but when I became a busy working mom I did not return to it. As time passed, I was less inclined to investigate my difficult feelings about that time. Revisiting this piece in the present day, I see it as a meditation on the biological and psychological stresses of pregnancy— it’s doubled structure echoes a conversation between myself and my unborn child, and at times, between my partner and I. The ink stained pages, floating cellular and biologic images and text express a powerful mix of uncertainty, fear, loss of control of one’s body, along with fierce feelings of connection and desire. This piece belongs to the Cynthia Sears Collection at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

Lovely Parasite, 2003-2020, one-of-a-kind artist’s book on Okawara paper with acrylic ink, xerography, typewritten text, collage, thread and binder’s board. Open 11.5” x 16.75” x 6”, Closed 11.5” x 16.75” x .25”