R.W & Joyce Witt Gallery - Alison Beck

 

The Sac State Art Department posted this description of the exhibition: "Through this exploration of womanhood, through their own perceptions, these artists explore what is to be a woman and what it takes to find acceptance and liberation." Several artists had their work displayed, but I will be going over two impactful pieces by Alison Beck.

Parasite, Alison Beck, 2023, screen print.

As I entered the gallery, Parasite caught my eye immediately. It depicts a rafflesia-baby hybrid with a pacifier at its feet. The rafflesia, also known as the stinking corpse lily, is a giant parasitic flower native to Southeast Asia. It is an obligate parasite, which means that this parasite cannot complete its life cycle without exploiting a host. In this case, the rafflesia will take over the inside of the vine that hosts it, with the only visible part of the parasite being the flower that sprouts forth.

Baby legs and arms have been stuck onto the parasitic flower, with an untouched pacifier left to drive the metaphor home. The life cycle of a fetus resembles the life cycle of a parasite on a superficial level. A fetus, as it grows, will take nutrients from the pregnant person's body to sustain itself. It cannot grow without a person to support its growth, much like an obligate parasite cannot grow without a host. Of course, there are glaringly obvious reasons why a baby is not classified as a parasite. But for someone who knows about parasites on a surface level, the comparison makes sense. Especially when taken fear into account.

Reproduction is fraught with difficulties. It is inherently risky, especially for the person who is pregnant. The risk is not exclusive to the actual birth, as life-threatening medical conditions can appear during the gestation period. After birth, the body of the parent who carried the child is changed, and other medical conditions may arise. There are a myriad of complications that can happen at any point, something that is a scary thought despite reproduction being a fact of life. Modern medicine may have reduced much of the risk, but even then, that is contingent on medical access, money, geography, etc. 

Contemplating serious medical conditions isn't a relaxing pastime. Add that to societal expectations, and you have a recipe for some truly unnerving experiences. Now, I want to make it clear, you don't have to be a woman to become pregnant. But as traditional gender roles subscribe women to childbirth, that is what I will explore in the rest of this post. A young girl might be taught from an early age she will become a mother one day. It's not always presented as a choice. Most of the time, it isn't. Like an especially tenacious cockroach, centuries of gender roles survive, persistently enforced. This enforcement can be blatant, or it can be insidious. Either results in many women feeling like having children is a must instead of a choice. 

So what happens when you're told your entire life that you're expected to undergo a change that will compromise your bodily autonomy, potentially compromise your health, and place the well-being of an entire person on your shoulders? Well, you might start comparing having a baby to acquiring a parasite. After all, a parasite, as most people understand, is a threat to their well-being that results in severe illness and/or death. If you survive? Surprise! You might have lasting complications that will impact the rest of your life. 

Being expected to do something life-threatening, no matter how natural it may be, isn't going to sit well with some people. I can't imagine comparing a parasitic flower to a baby would endear any regressive pro-birther. But the metaphor, at a glance, is apt. This is a depiction that comes from the heart. It is born from anger. It is not a pleasant comparison. If you're angry at people who demand you conform to tradition, why not hit them where it hurts? Depict what they hold in high esteem in a negative light. Furthering this theory is the companion piece, Nursing Time! 

Nursing Time! Alison Beck, 2023, screen print

 I will admit this one made me laugh. The artwork depicts the maw of a lamprey with a mobile in the background. Lampreys do not inspire comfort; quite the opposite, in fact, with their jawless mouth and circular rows of teeth. They are rather alien-looking, monstrous, and so far from cute and cuddly. The artist knew exactly the kind of feelings she wished to inspire when choosing a lamprey mouth and titling it "nursing time." 

They are certainly not positive. The majority of lamprey species are bottom feeders/filter feeders, meaning they dig into the sediment in search of food. The most well-known lampreys are carnivorous and parasitic, as they attach themselves to suck the blood of their prey. With a mouth like theirs, it's hard to imagine anything other than a predatory lifestyle. After all, that is a lot of teeth! It's easily something the imagination can run wild with. 

So, what does anger have to do with something so terrifying? It definitely feeds into a wry, slightly taboo sort of humor. I find Nursing Time! to be very funny. But I digress. Anger is considered a secondary emotion born from fear. The two emotions are closely linked. You might get angry at having this expectation thrust upon you since childhood, but that is directed to those who believed they could mold you. The biological process itself might inspire more fear than it does anger, especially taking all the potential health issues into account. Mix up spite and fear, and you have Nursing Time!

As amusing as I find these artworks to be, I do want to note that I am not anti-children or one of those obnoxiously insistent "child-free" folk who define their identity around sitting on a high horse. I like kids. What I do not like is the notion that I must produce children at some point in my life. I do not like hearing "when you have a baby" comments or "you will feel differently someday!" remarks. I can only imagine the passive-aggressive comments that inspired Alison Beck to create these two pieces. I understand where the artist is coming from. Luckily for us, Beck put those feelings into pictures and created something highly entertaining yet filled to the brim with metaphor.