statement

My practice activates soil as a material to share similarities with womxn and shares their historical stories of being dominated by men and societal control. Noticing more and more how legislators view my body as an object, has propelled my exploration into the domestication cycles that define and control both womxn and nature. Societies governed by men seek to domesticate womxn as they have domesticated land, cattle, chickens, cats, and dogs. While the direct connection seems unclear it can be seen in social patterns within beauty standards, child

rearing rituals, household expectations, rape culture and systematic wage gaps.

I rely heavily on archival references that can be made into simplistic snapshots of past truths to convey the current social constraints placed on womxn. I use soil to unify and embody movements of liberation, from patriarchal dominance over womxn and nature. Recycled and repurposed materials reflect a connection to landscape, fertility, labor, natural environments, and the body. In contrasting natural and synthetic materials to construct artifacts, these pieces take on elements of reclaimed environments and assemblages of growth that can form in both nature and the human body.

bio

Erica Fitzgerald is an interdisciplinary artist that uses sculpture, performance, and activism to touch on difficult topics like identity, abortion, and the sexualization of the female body. She earned her BFA

in sculpture at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and is currently pursuing her MFA in New Media at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Fitzgerald’s work has been shown in Cincinnati (OH), Lexington (KY), Louisville (KY), Columbus (OH), Dallas (TX), New York (NY) and Ashville (NC).