Off the Wall- a feminist obstetricians view. November 27th 2023 UCA group show with Sam Chara and Darrell Kingsley
My figurative paintings are a series of if I was “a fly on the wall” observing scenarios from my former job as an obstetrician. They tell stories of situations that emotionally impacted me. As a woman caring for women , these give an unbiased female point of view of quite private situations.
I limited my usual multicoloured palette; “tending to monochrome” ( my work is shown with Sam and Darrell -of more of a monochrome palette)
“What is feminist art” it is art that reaches out and affirms women and validates experience and make us feel good about ourselves. ( Judy Chicago 1977). I don’t think my memories will necessarily make women feel good about themselves. However 3 of the 4 show scenes where women deserve better. The women deserve justice and respect when being patients.
“Tragedy in Midlevels”
The first “Tragedy in Midlevels” was an event in Hong Kong that I wasn’t present for. I knew the circumstances of this your woman’s death first hand. The knowledge of this situation and its seriousness meant in time`I lost my job. A woman haemorrhaged after childbirth, here you see the blood, the baby and the husband. There was a coverup of the lack of teamwork that lead to her death. I was feared as a potential whistleblower.
KK hospital
The second is “KK hospital ”. This is a huge maternity hospital in Singapore where I wanted to work to get more experience in rare medical emergencies. I was astonished to see women shackled to their hospital beds, when they had been transferred from the prison for a procedure. Next to the prisoner a woman is having an ultrasound. In KK all ultrasonographers must learn to do this left handed. ( every other place I have worked we do it right handed). The snake is a vine snake. My experience of the hospital where my freshness of view was invited and then rejected is that KK was a “snake”
In St Josephs
“In St Josephs” a woman is having a spinal put in so she can have a C section. This is Lesotho, in southern Africa .The technician, insisted on the jack -knife position, even though this made the procedure technically difficult ,and awkward for the pregnant woman in labour waiting to be out of her misery. He used many needles before he succeeded. The lady and her baby on the right had a difficult time the day of the baby s birth, but here they are both well 10 days later. Of note there was a storm and a tree fell on my midwife colleagues house.
Post Earthquake
“Post Earthquake” shows a tumble down building on the left, with a woman and her child in a UNESCO tent on the right. The tents were a big success, the women could make the journey up and down mountains before the birth and be fed and looked after before and after the birth. Sometimes we learn things when crises occur- I learnt the side of the building with door and window won’t fall in an earthquake.
As an obstetrician interested in women surviving having a baby this quartet of of paintings with juxtaposed images and stories means a lot to me . Globally having a baby is safer than it was- for example in Sierra Leone: A year after the launch in 2010 of the Free Health Care initiative for women and children under five years old, there was a 150 per cent improvement in maternal complications managed in health facilities and a 61 per cent reduction in the maternal mortality. However what is also important is having the education and access to family planning so adolescents don’t get swept into starting families before they are ready. The gains of feminism in the USA are halted by rightwing politics. We should never stop in working for women’s rights and opportunities.
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