Diphtheria

MultiMedia Installation, Ceramic Objects, and Sound, 2017

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Constricted.  Wanting to speak but barely uttering more than an eerie sound.  Silenced, most women of the world are not allowed to express themselves fully, in a free way. Like diphtheria, which spreads through the air and through direct social contact, efforts to limit free speech begin to take hold from within. The installation is a metaphor for all forbidden voices around the world and throughout history.  Women in the Middle East, in particular, struggle to make themselves heard, but with great difficulty as if stricken by this terrible disease.  Is there no vaccination that could protect society from such a malady? Freedom of speech thrives through daily exercise in a healthy political environment.