Each hanging relates to a different aspect of the experience of long-term illness. Together the parts combine to represent the physical and emotional pain and limitation of living with illness.
“The Bird Woman” symbolises a wounded and uncertain identity in a state of flux due to the effects of severe illness. The distressed and fragmented imagery reflect the experience of the body and the self.
By working in this way, Maria challenges familiar boundaries bringing into the public sphere the often ‘invisible’ and privately experienced issue of health and illness. By doing this, she aims to promote discussion and begin to address the exclusion and rejection of the confined and ‘uncontrollable’ body in a society that is forever searching for the ideal body.
'Birdwoman
' Hanging mixed media and stitch on calico
Not for sale
'A
Personal Journey through Chronic Illness' project
6
part hanging installation - Maria’s degree show, 1998.