Partly Cloudy, Mostly Sunny
2019
Material/Technique: ceiling tile, floor tile, mirror, poster, plumb bob
Partly Cloudy, Mostly Sunny, a personal work that represents my experience of looking at the sky vista ceiling poster in an American abortion clinic while being forced to give up my child because of my financial situation. In the US immigrants have to wait for five years before they are allowed to receive any social benefits and although based on my income I would have qualifying for Medicaid and social services I was excluded from receiving any.The US, contrary to other countries of the same economy fails to take care of its citizens and provide universal health care, maternity leave or support for its cultural institutions and content creators. Here having a child is not a personal choice but a question of status or circumstance.In my particular situation neither family support nor income was available to create a personal network that would have afforded me this luxury.
The piece was born out of a clinical experience, that reinforced my perception of the limited rights of immigrants, the financial disparities of working artists, the lack of support for motherhood in the US and the continuing use of women's reproductive rights as political campaigning tools in disregard for women needs.
The blue sky was a bizarre sight and left me confused an puzzled. Is this all the support I can get? A poster reminding me to take things light? I am now the owner of multiple of these posters and the decision to create a room which was flipped on its head, while using the poster as a form of weather or status report, a forecast and reminder, took shape. The ceiling is placed on the floor, while the floor is on the ceiling, inverting the room within the gallery. Meanwhile the plumb bob, an instrument that is used in construction to establish what is “right” and “true”, is placed here as a marker. The mirror on the ceiling breaking up the reflections, allowing the viewer to see themselves in it.