ARTIST STATEMENT
With the use of colored yarn, I sought to invoke the imagery of the pink pussy hats from the 2017 Women’s March on Washington, first, to remind the viewer of how far we’ve fallen in such a short time. While the original hats created a vast sea of pink at the original Women’s March, the failure of feminism for many women to be intersectional has and will continue to ultimately affect women of color the most. The use of multicolored yarn therefore asks the viewer to consider which women are most affected by the overturning of Roe and subsequent passage of draconian state laws.
After crocheting the piece in full, I made the initial hole in the middle (reflective of one’s capacity to make decisions being removed) by taking a razorblade around the circumference of a coffee mug—incidentally from the Supreme Court & chosen for its 10-centimeter size (the size of full dilation during labor). Since this time, the hole has grown larger due to the pulling on each side of the wooden frame, which depending on how we exercise our remaining decisions, may or may not be a sign of things to come.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Katherine Shehadeh is an artist, writer and attorney, who resides with her spouse and two young children in Miami, Florida. Her work has been displayed in juried exhibitions across the United States and in online and print journals, including the North Dakota Human Rights Arts Festival and Dream Pop (forthcoming, 2023).
© Katherine Shehadeh