Phyllis Hofman

Gallows Dolls #3, Wave, Scar Series
photograph, old wood, copper

The doctor came into my room not even 12 hours after the hysterectomy. “You’ve healed,” he said, removing the staples. “Go take a walk.” I gingerly headed to the maternity ward, the only interesting destination on the floor, wondering if the sight of newborns would provoke hysteria over the loss of my childbearing ability. The nursery was quite full, and I was nearly flattened by my visceral response to the babies—I felt, very powerfully, that each of those infants was my own, that I had just given birth to each one. The physical intensity of that connection was the impetus for my nine-piece series, “The Scar.”

© Phyllis Hofman