I was very sorry to see that Dan Edward's sculpture is being hailed as the "first monument to pro-life". For Dan (to use the words of his gallery announcement), "showing Spears seductively posed on all fours atop a bearskin rug with back arched, pelvis thrust upward, as she clutches the bear’s ears with ‘water-retentive’ hands", is less a celebration of birth than an obvious and heavy-handed attempt to 1) further sexualize women, 2) capitalize on Spears' celebrity and 3) create "buzz" and controversy by piggy-backing on the hot-button issue of abortion rights.

In my work, I wanted to show an everyday woman--not a pop star--who represents the wonder and beauty of pregnancy. This is no celebrity posed on a bear skin rug--this is an ordinary woman who doesn't have the time to strike silly poses, and who wouldn't even if she did. In the last stages of pregnancy, she is sharing her joy and reverence with her other child. There is such a sense of tenderness and love in this picture which I tried to enhance by simplifying the original photograph and stripping it down to the essentials: the mother, the older child and the baby who will soon be born.

I believe that each child conceived has the right to life--that there is a divine reason for that particular conception. This right to life trumps our rights as women to choose whether or not to carry that child. This is not a "popular" opinion in our culture, but the right to life is intrinsic and should not be negated due to popularity, individual rights, or rhetoric. This being said, neither should it be exploited by artists under the guise of a "pro-life" stance, hoping to cash in on another's celebrity and status, producing a work which is neither truthful (Brittany had a C-section) nor inspirational.

I am not a political artist and so this was extremely difficult for me to enter this show. In today's "shades of gray" world, to take an unrepentant "black and white" stand on anything is risky. I kept changing my mind on whether or not to enter, but in the end, I decided that it would be cowardice on my part if I did not enter. Normally I shoot my own photographs but, having procrastinated for so long, I wasn't able to arrange a shoot. I was very lucky to have found this stock photo (istockphoto), which was originally black and white. In Photoshop, I added color, softened the faces, deleted any distracting details and focused on the essential areas of the photograph. I concede that my work is far more sentimental than political but I believe that sentiment is more precious than politics, especially when the subject is as charged as this one is.

Artist:

Debbie Vinci   Lincoln, Nebraska, United States