Sex and Sovereignty

Artist Statement (continued)

Sex and Sovereignty is a collection of portraits and stories by people who can become pregnant, the providers who care for them, and the people who fight for their liberation. These stories span borders, barriers, and reasons, to center human experiences that have been unjustly stigmatized.

I began this work in response to increased restrictions on abortion rights in the United States. However, the more I learned about the history and conflict surrounding reproductive healthcare, the more I realized how these issues impact everyone.

It’s not just laws that are failing us. It’s the way we talk about (or don’t talk about) things like abortion, people living with HIV/AIDs, or miscarriage. It’s how the U.S. maternal mortality rate has increased year over year, with Black, Indigenous, and Latine people disproportionately dying. It’s how rural and poor communities lack resources to safely raise healthy families. It’s how modern obstetrics and gynecology were built on the torture of enslaved people. And it’s about so much more.

Every single day, people must overcome immense barriers to create a family how they see fit. Whether it’s through sharing personal stories, providing healthcare when no one else will, or confronting the systems of oppression head-on, Sex and Sovereignty honors the people who are forging a better future for us all.