ARTIST STATEMENT
My response to the overturning of the constitutional right of women to decide what their body needs in terms of abortion by the Supreme Court was intense sadness for myself, my children, my grandchildren and the people of my country.
I turned to my art for a way to communicate to others that having an abortion is not simple, easy or forgotten the next day. The picture I made is disturbing purposefully. The audience I was reaching for is those that have a fairy tale version of Motherhood.
Watching my daughter and daughter-in-law navigate motherhood while working full time has given me a front seat to the trials and tribulations that being a mother has. When motherhood is thrust upon you, it adds to the tension – thus the picture. Choice gives room for the reality that motherhood is not just having a UTERUS.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I was a school teacher who started taking free art classes from the Park District of Chicago when I retired. Those classes were for anyone and the materials were free. I learned about, lines, drawing and shadowing but also myself. The classes I liked the most were on the bus line and the group who attended them were like a family. I even helped draw a mural for a wall in one of the buildings.
Then life changed and I moved to Highland Park were there is an ART Center and classes that cost a lot more. I found a teacher who really liked my style and stayed with him until Covid. Since then I have taken only one art class. I like portraiture and have stuck with that style since Covid. My accomplishments are minimal in terms of exhibitions , only exhibiting at the places I take art classes. However, my artwork is activist artwork. My hope is that those who view my work will pause and feel.
With that new sensation, maybe a belief about others can begin to unstick.
© Ellen Fishman