A. Laura Brody
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Medusa
Vintage wheelchair, repurposed textiles, and Foss Shape. 70" x 32" x 48". 2019. Website: http://www.dreamsbymachine.com/ California, USA Photo by Heidi Marie Photography VO by Mari Weiss |
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ABOUT THE ARTWORK:
The Gorgon Medusa is an emblem of betrayal, fear, and power. As a maiden, she was raped by the god Poseidon while she worshiped in Athena's temple. Instead of fighting with the god, Athena turned Medusa into a gorgon who could turn men to stone.
Disability is demonized and taken advantage of in our culture. It is seen as a weakness, as tragedy, and as something to be feared. Medusa shows us that what seems monstrous can stem from human betrayal and injustice. In my sculpture, Medusa becomes a queen at home with her snakes. She represents the overwhelming number of disabled women who are raped and sexually assaulted but rarely believed.
Disability is demonized and taken advantage of in our culture. It is seen as a weakness, as tragedy, and as something to be feared. Medusa shows us that what seems monstrous can stem from human betrayal and injustice. In my sculpture, Medusa becomes a queen at home with her snakes. She represents the overwhelming number of disabled women who are raped and sexually assaulted but rarely believed.
STATEMENT:
My adaptive device artworks draw from the history of art: the flowing shapes of Art Nouveau, the embellishments of the Victorians and the line quality of Klimt and Schiele. These sculptures are conceived with a commitment to social justice and are inspired by the spirit of scientific discovery. They are meant to encourage conversation and to inspire radical rethinking of the meanings of disability and adaptive aids.
DESCRIPTION:
Medusa
A sculpture of a woman with light brown skin sits in an antique wheelchair. Her snake hair is created from woven leather in pale blue, avocado green, red, black, and brown. The snakes on the top of her head have sharp white fangs and those on her shoulders have protruding red tongues. She wears a blue and black lace top with a silver beaded neckline trimmed with iridescent green and blue peacock feathers. A silver chain with a round pendant adorns her neck. In her lap and forming her legs are wave like tentacles in blue and white or shiny dark blue velvet tipped with garnet beads. Two larger green snakes jut forward and bisect the chair’s side wheels.
-description by Teri Grossman
A sculpture of a woman with light brown skin sits in an antique wheelchair. Her snake hair is created from woven leather in pale blue, avocado green, red, black, and brown. The snakes on the top of her head have sharp white fangs and those on her shoulders have protruding red tongues. She wears a blue and black lace top with a silver beaded neckline trimmed with iridescent green and blue peacock feathers. A silver chain with a round pendant adorns her neck. In her lap and forming her legs are wave like tentacles in blue and white or shiny dark blue velvet tipped with garnet beads. Two larger green snakes jut forward and bisect the chair’s side wheels.
-description by Teri Grossman
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Opulent Mobility by A. Laura Brody is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
The Opulent Mobility license refers to the exhibit and its audio descriptions. Individual artworks are the property of the individual artists.