Pandora’s Pockets

Olson Larsen Gallery in Des Moines hosted The Female Gaze. Friends were invited to share a sentence on being a woman. Distinctive perspectives were reflected in gourd shapes and colors, using Braille for their words. Symbolizing fertility, good luck, prosperity, gourds reference the female body with its generous and generative shapes and curves. Our culture regards women as mysterious; our bodies, minds, and lived experiences are the subject of speculation, giving rise to myths and efforts to keep us in check. I made the creative leap to Pandora, whose “box,” when opened, led to miseries and troubles—just like a woman! I thought about how to transform the narrative of Pandora. When I read Hannah Carlson’s book, Pockets: An Intimate History of How We keep Things Close she noted women’s clothing neglected to include pockets when introduced 500 years ago. The challenges and disadvantages were manifest; women had to continue using a bag or purse for personal items. This brought me to creating a pocket to hold postcards for each piece; a stylized container, or “box.” The card has that woman’s words, revealing her mystery, making it available to be shared with others. I hold the hope that the act of reaching into the pockets is transformative, and, just a bit transgressive.

Kelly

Braille text: As a woman, the older I grow the more I know about the nothingness of being and the something of making; always a Democrat, and of course a Feminist, yet beyond these simplicities I experience myself differently from year to year and day to day.

Eulanda

Braille text: To be a woman is to be the central hub for a biological or chosen family.

Debbie

Braille text: I don’t know what my being a woman means to me as different from my just being a person.

Jan

Braille text: Being a woman means having an intimate connection with other women and promoting the well-being of all women.

MA

Braille text: Being a woman means joining with others to solve a problem.

Joan

Jeanine

Braille text: The woman I strive to be is resilient and compassionate, nurturing others and herself with her inner strength.

Caroline

Braille text: A constant pull in many directions, with a drive to create life, peace and prosperity.

Sandra

Braille text: To be resilient, while taking care of yourself and your family.

Li

Braille text: She is a daughter, a sister a wife, and a mother, but sometimes she just wants to be herself.

Merce

Braille text: Being a woman means eventually reaching parity between ‘caring for’ and ‘being cared for’.

Lu

Braille text: It is in me that all the mothers are nurtured. You call it my bravery, but it is borrowed, merged with all the ones chained behind me.