WOMB IS ABOUT loss AND HEALING

Over time, Santos pieced together the story about how her grandma endured eleven pregnancies over twenty years. There were seven surviving children - the artist's mom was the youngest. During her pregnancies, the grandmother’s family lived in a two-room flat in the tenement district, with no running water or electricity. As with the grandmother, the artist's mom also experienced loss; Santos's sister Marina died right after a traumatic premature birth. The artist herself has lost three babies. The family's shared experiences are common to many women in our society; however, the traumas associated with losing a baby are not openly discussed. There is a need to normalize pain and for people to feel comfortable sharing it in their own time. We can lean on each other for comfort and support.

This is a personal connection.

Womb is a bowl-like paper mache sculpture that is reminiscent of a beet cut in half. Six smaller beets are placed with it, three inside and three smaller beets outside the bowl. They are painted with beet juice and linseed oil. A small light shines through from the bottom of the bowl because, in Portuguese, delivering a baby is "dar a luz" (to give light). The sculpture is paired with a recording of the narrative of loss among three generations, written by the artist and recounted by her older daughter and herself. Their voices were digitally recorded, edited, and rerecorded onto a cassette tape. Viewers can listen to it through the cassette player displayed by the sculpture or by scanning the QR code next to it.