The Wanderer towers over viewers—intestines and reproductive organs spilling from her abdomen— entirely constructed from soft blue chambray bed sheets except for a white pustule on an ovary. Deflated, hyperextended arms and legs spill onto the floor, coiling their way to mismatched beanbag-type appendages. The Wanderer is suspended from the ceiling with clear nylon thread, giving the appearance that she is standing or perhaps walking. But the ridiculously long and ribbon-like limbs paired with the oversized, heavy appendages opposes the suggestion of movement. The wandering referred to in the title is not the movement of the figure in totality but rather is the movement of the uterus bursting forth from its fleshy fabric confines, mimicking the endometrium growing outside of the uterus and the trauma satellite that endometrium incites on the body. Made from two sets of queen-size bed sheets that the artist used for several years, a body oil ombre shadows the artist’s body and time spent in bed.

Anna Cowley Ford

Anna Cowley Ford