Mr's'. Nirbhaya
Mr's.' Nirbhaya represents women everywhere who continue to be victims of the centuries-old social and ideological construct of Patriarchy. These fearless women anonymously hang by a thread in their ragged, broken, fragmented bodies as the miscarriage of social justice and lack of free expression persists.
The name "Nirbhaya" means 'fearless one,' borrowed from a horrific incident of sexual assault in 2012 in India, which got the nation's attention. Under Indian law, the name of the victim of sexual assault is not publicly reported. However, this victim died of her injuries and became known as – the fearless one. In 2013, she received the International Women of Courage Award posthumously from the US Department of State. One has to be fearless to endure and survive these social, cultural, and legal systems. And one has to be courageous to verbalize and express discontentment towards oppressive colonial patriarchal practices, yet with the imposed fear, 'the fearless one' remains unnamed and censored.
In a world where countless nameless fearless women have no sexual and reproductive rights, they are constrained to live in terror and manhandled, similar to being treated like rag dolls. Rag Dolls, one of the oldest toys in existence, are used as comfort objects; similarly, women's role in society is that of a nurturer, yet they have no agency over their bodies and are mistreated and abused. In India, marital rape and domestic violence are legal, and in post roe v wade America one has no access to abortion. To decolonize the self, resist internalized oppression, and live with "Nirbhaya," we must voice and see reality as it is.
Mr’s.’ Nirbhaya
monotype prints, ceramic, thread, and wood
36 inches x 68 inches x 6 inches; 2022
Roe 2.0 – It Ain’t Over Yet! Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
ON VIEW: January 28 – March 4, 2023
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday Jan. 28, 2023, 4-7 PM CST
ARTISTS WALKTHROUGH: Saturday, March 4, 2-4 PM CST
Artists Respond: Post-Roe Louisiana, juried exhibition, Carroll Gallery, Woldenberg Art Center, New Orleans, LA
ON VIEW: October 4 – 28, 2022
RECEPTION & PANEL DISCUSSION: Thursday, October 13, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
The exhibition features artwork in various media by artists from Louisiana in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States in June of 2022. The exhibition will be on view in the Carroll Gallery of the Newcomb Art Department.
Making Sense of a Post-Roe Louisiana