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My work interrogates the contemporary Catholic Church and its teachings on sex and gender as manifested in the Virgin Mary. I am discovering Mary as a god, a real person, a negotiated space, and as a weaponized symbol. Mary’s body is physically present in the daily lives of many Catholics, but is not represented in the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church. Quite simply, there are no wom... read moreen with power in the church’s hierarchy; according to church teaching, the ultimate vocation for a Catholic woman is to raise a Catholic family. This body of work deals with the discrepancy of Mary in the Catholic Church; what happens to someone when they are simultaneously present and absent? I am looking at Mary as a real person—as myself. What happens when Mary’s hands become my own hands, and my hands become Mary’s hands? The large, tapestry-like sheets of handmade paper reference the layers upon layers of fabric that cover Mary’s body. I am questioning the church’s tradition of celebrating and revering Mary while actively preventing women from having access to space within the church.
Keywords: feminism, Catholic, Mary, Virgin Mary.read less
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