The project Virgin Birth is a reflection on the predestined purpose when you are defined as a woman. In this installation, a POV video loop projects on top of terra-cotta shrines that contain sculptures of fetuses. The video loop shows a woman sitting down with open thighs, dressed in all white, her hands with red nail polish that deteriorates as the video progresses. The position of the camera is as if the viewer is the one giving birth, or as if this figure is a machine with the head as a camera. The power of fertility and the consequences of having a body that can produce - or is meant - to produce is seen through sculptures that resemble a fetus. The sculptures are made out of mirror, wire, my hair, stone beads that resemble teeth, and charcoal. Touching on the concepts of domestication and reproduction, this figure is meant to give birth when the fetus appears on her hands, then placing it inside the terracotta shrine. The creation of the terracotta clay shrines are inspired by la Venus de Tacarigua, a Venezuelan pre-columbian figure that symbolizes sexuality and fertility, and Hannah Wilke, “Five Androgynous and Vaginal Sculptures,” 1960-61.The materials used to form the fetuses become a continuation of herself, leaving a trace, an essence. Repetition and multiplication become a routine to the figure without an end on her destiny to reproduce as much as possible.

Written by Maria Sanchez, 2023.

Image on the right made by a glitch on a computer. 

Words inspired by the book, The Wretched of the Screen, written by Hito Steyerl.