How much can a woman hold,
How many demands can she face,
How many roles can she play,
How many struggles can she endure,
Before she wilts,
And her many layers collapse under the weight of it all?

This installation was created to pay tribute to the incredible ability of women - to hold so much despite all the pressures they bear. It was also conceived to draw awareness, and pay homage to, the approximately 1 million women in Belgium, and 736 million worldwide, who have braved physical and/or sexual violence.

Due to economic crises, conflicts, and climate change, gender-based violence is intensifying. Every 10 minutes, a woman somewhere in the world is killed.

Entitled ‘Mothers Die’, the sculpture in the installation by Laura Davis is a mixed media work incorporating embroidery; lino print; paint on textiles; dried and pressed cow parsley and hogweed; handmade paper; and a structure woven from willow, reed and leather. In some parts of England, cow parsley (_anthriscus sylvestris / fluitenkruid / cerfeuil sauvage_) is known as mothers die.

Using white porcelain to reflect both strength and vulnerability, I handbuilt the bowls in the installation in layers of ribbons, and intentionally collapsed them to alter the amount that they could hold, and create internal centres to the bowls that are reminiscent of the intimate anatomy of women - in many cultures, the sacred symbol of creation and regeneration.

For more info:
UN Women
European Institute for Gender Equality