The other day there were news articles that talked about the Egyptian Army's attack on a women protester. They beat her up, tore off her clothes, manhandled her, and stomped on her. Terrible. People viewing the scene noticed that she was wearing a bright blue bra. Under all that controlled clothing! Well, it became a rallying point with people sewing blue bras over the official Egyptian flags. To me, the blue bra represented the protest of so much control, something that couldn't be denied.
Often, I have wanted to do a piece that expressed my feelings on a topic, but it never seemed to work. My work is bright and I thought that "statement" pieces should be dark. Well, this time things went right. The background starts in black but lightens up as the "revolt" gains strength; the bra gets larger and becomes stronger; the chain is strong at the bottom but drops away; the quilting is meant to represent hands and fists but they fall away into blooms of hope. Your work is supposed to stand and be understood by itself, but this is new and I didn't want you to miss my point.
This piece is dedicated to the brave women protesters and also to Eva Henneberry who did many "statement" pieces and encouraged me to do the same.
