Mother of Pearl (Mollusca Placuna)

Materials: Placenta mollusk, capiz shell, mother of pearl, pearlized paint, phosphorescent powder, neon powder, pearl powder, floor resin, wall insulation foam, interior latex house paint, tropical flowers, plastic funerary plants

The work considers the culture of pregnancy in the Americas, a complicated historical, political and geographic context wherein conquering the tropical landscape and women’s bodies both stem from a colonial Eurocentric legacy.

Mother of Pearl (Placenta Mollusca) is a pregnant torso effigy figure with viscous layers of pearlized, neon floor resin poured over an 8 pack of muscular shells. Placenta Mollusks and Capiz Shells were used in Asian and Pacific Island fertility traditions, as well as domestic architecture. Prior to the invention of glass, Capiz and Placenta mollusk shells were used as stained glass windows in domestic architecture. The healing powder is used in ancient fertility rituals as well as contemporary reproductive health treatments by doulas.