Luna (Debris from a Lunar Paraphrase)

A chalk white plaster cast of a pregnant torso radiates moonlight. Recalling associations between reproduction and lunar cycles across cultural history, the sculpture is made with residential construction materials (plaster, cotton gauze and aluminum mesh) repurposing material refuse as a maternal refuge. The work was created by casting a pregnant Ecuadorian American, mixed race, mixed status brown woman in plaster, wax and cotton gauze. The title of the work references Wallace Stevens' 1931 poem Lunar Paraphrase: "The moon is the mother of pathos and pity."