Artwork Description
Linda Mae Tratechaud – A Womb of Her Own
Dimensions: 12 x 10.5 x 6″ sculpture
Year: 2024
Medium: cast glass and bronze, key plate, antique key, chain, copper wire
Trained as a graphic designer and illustrator, I used my artistic skills to represent the voices of others for over 20 years. For the past dozen years, I’ve made Figureless Garments exploring female roles and Domestic Feminism. I build work with an emphasis on the human essence that is left behind in inanimate objects, a worn slipper, a dress, a chair, a bed.
In my current evocative work I investigate how society values or devalues people they see as “other”. I tell the story of the powerless, vulnerable, and marginalized. I ask the viewer to examine their humanity through shared common items, memories, and personal experiences. I explore social isolation and suffering suggested by a head-print left behind in a pillow, the empty space under an abandoned blanket, a crib made of thorny branches, a play-pen lined with barbed wire.
Sticks, acorns, and Milagros weave metaphor into the sculptures bringing their own narrative to the piece, while paying homage to their previous existence. As well, these items represent the resourcefulness of immigrants, refugees, and the poor who often must build something out of nothing.