Trailer for MOTHER'S RIGHT from michelle hartney on Vimeo.
As part of a week-long residency at Defibrillator Gallery in Chicago, artist Michelle Hartney will be holding a performance of MOTHER'S RIGHT-a conceptual installation and performance piece that addresses the United States' high rates of maternal mortality, postpartum PTSD, and obstetric abuse-Saturday, February 20 at 7pm. Check out the trailer below!
The performance will feature 1,200 hospital gowns, which Hartney sewed-one for every mother who died in childbirth in America in 2013-which were utilized in the recent Labor Day performance at Daley Center in Chicago. Each gown is hand silk-screened with the artist's drawings of the plant derivatives for the drugs that have been used on laboring women for the past 150 years, composed to resemble traditional hospital gown fabric. During the performance, several pairs of women stand facing one other, folding the handmade gowns into triangles-similar to the way the American flag is folded at the funeral of a solider. The traditional flag-folding ceremony includes twelve symbolic folds, and as described by The American Legion, "The ninth fold is a tribute to womanhood, for it has been through their faith, love, loyalty and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great have been molded." These custom-made hospital gowns have been cut to a length where the fabric stops on the ninth fold.
Throughout 2016, Hartney will be presenting additional iterations of the piece in collaboration with various organizations in locations internationally. For more information, or to discuss partnership opportunities, please contact AKArt Advisory at
info@AKArt.com.
