Light Based
Carmen Menza
Pretty Little Mouth
2023
Millions of women and girls across the United States have suffered an alarming deterioration in access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, following the US Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022. Our right to bodily and reproductive autonomy is deeply grounded in the U.S. Constitution and our decisions about childbearing are grounded in the federal constitutional rights of privacy and liberty.
Now is not the time to be quiet. If we do not speak then who?
This work is accompanied by my short protest film titled "Pretty Little Mouth". As a nod to Jimi Hendrix's playing of the National Anthem and his protest to the Vietnam war, this is my expression against the regression of women's rights in America. This work was first presented in the Women Life Freedom exhibit in Dallas, TX, August 2023. Curated by Nillo Jalivand and Mari Hildago-King.
You can view the video here.