Specimen, 2023

embroidery, beads, assorted stones, yarrow, hibiscus leaf, jasmine flower, medical records

RIGHT OVARY:

Status:   Visualized

Size (cm)    L:  4.5       W:   3.2        H:  2.3       Vol.(ml): 17.3

Morphology:    Enlarged, follicles

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LEFT OVARY:

Status:   Visualized

Size (cm)    L:  4.4       W:   3          H:  3         Vol.(ml): 20.7

Morphology:    Enlarged, follicles

By observing my own medical records I construct a model of my organs which do not function properly. In this model they are objects that can be loved and honored by me.

Displayed on my body between laparoscopic surgical scars, the cloth ovaries are contextualized in a larger landscape of chronic disease affecting the female body. Inhabits of these bodies experience a profound loss of control; I determine the sculptural design of my organs in observation of both recorded condition and imagined beauty.

Chronic conditions affecting female bodies are not rare. Here are names for some of them: PCOS, endometriosis, pelvic congestion syndrome, adenomyosis.