What if a rageful Greek Fury inhabited the body of the Virgin Queen and promised payback for overturning Roe? Meet Furiana.
Furiana:
Rage as large as life
Artistic details
Media: Assembled sculptureDimensions: 4 ft x 4 ft x 7 ftMaterials used:
- Black fiberglass mannequin
- Copper wire
- Python and Boa constrictor snakeskin shed
- Coat hanger
- Antique locks and rusty metal chains
- Matches
- Fabrics: vintage tulle from the artist's mother's wedding dress, cotton eyelet, silk brocade, chiffon silk crinkle
- Trims: vintage neckties from the artist's father, vintage metallic/velvet trim, upholstery cord
- Boning for hoop skirt
- Jewelry: beaded snake necklaces, snakeskin metal cuff bracelet, vintage earrings
- Dried natural elements: briars, chili pepper pods, bittersweet berries, Queen Anne's lace flowers, sweet gum balls, star anise, pennyroyal, black cohosh, tansy, mugwort, rose hips, safflower hips, rabbit tail pampas grass, old man's beard lichens, Purple Majesty millet
- Feathers: rooster, pheasant, coque tail, vulture
The first of the Three Sisters of Roe is Furiana, a subverted depiction of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. Her human-sized body has been possessed by a Greek Fury whose role is to enact retribution on those who have committed grave social wrongs. Today her rage is directed towards conservatives who insist on birth regardless of circumstances, politicians continuing to drive repressive legislation and Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn Roe.
Without freedom of reproductive choice, Furiana's innate vitality has darkened and desiccated, turning even the lace and gems of her once regal Tudor garb into brittle decorations that reveal desperate options.
Yet she stands at the moment of transformation, igniting her spirit to defy further repression and channeling her rage to regain control of choices about her own body. Furiana will rise anew.
Yet she stands at the moment of transformation, igniting her spirit to defy further repression and channeling her rage to regain control of choices about her own body. Furiana will rise anew.
The artist created a twist on the iconic
Elizabethan hairstyle by hand winding
hundreds of copper wire curls
to express the hardening of her spirit.