An Egg Does Not A Woman Make

As a woman artist born and raised in the Bible-Belt of Alabama, the subject and debates surrounding abortion are things I am all to familiar with. Alabama has now passed a law saying that all frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are now considered living beings. When hearing about Alabama’s new law, I was disappointed but not surprised as women’s right to bodily autonomy has always been an issue. In response to this law, I am making my own tempera paint with egg yolks and painting the portraits of four women that have fought and are continuing to fight for reproductive freedom. The portraits are
painted on MDF panels I created myself and painted with paint I created myself to illustrate how, in life, women often have to do everything themselves in order to succeed. The portraits are inspired by early Renaissance tempera portraits of religious figures that were surrounded by gilded halos. The portraits are painted on eggs to show that women are more than just the eggs that they carry or the children that they bear, that religion does not have a place when making laws, and that reproductive freedom isn’t a topic that we need to walk on eggshells over.