June 25, 2021
Unobserved By Martha Underriner
Unobserved is a reflection on the spaces that women inhabit that contain unrecorded movements, experiences, and labor that go unobserved. With this body of work, I utilize the movements and labor of women by creating sculptural forms of documented movements and maps of labor within a domestic space.
Especially due to the pandemic, women have been unfairly burdened with so much of the labor and childcare and many have left the workforce entirely because of Covid-19. By choosing to document the movements and labor of women through these sculptural forms, I am acknowledging the significance and preserving the memory of it.
The exhibition contains three sculptures in all made of steel, cast glass, and vinyl. There are three steel sculptures that sit on the floor and two wall pieces. Each of the pieces is based on a GPS map made while myself or other women were performing labor tasks in our own domestic space. The steel sculptures are inspired by maps of repeated movements and chores around the house and the wall pieces are maps of the labor of three women, with the front doors of their domestic spaces replicated in cast glass.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Martha Underriner is an artist and educator based in DeLand, FL, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Florida. Martha received her Master of Art Education degree with an emphasis in ceramics from Texas Tech in 2015 in addition to her BFA in studio art with an emphasis in ceramics from the University of North Texas in 2008. Prior to returning to school for her MFA, Martha taught in K-12 art education for eleven years. She utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to her work using clay, cast glass, steel, and other materials. Her work has been exhibited nationally at Materials Hard+Soft, the National San Angelo Ceramics Exhibition, the Wiregrass Museum, and Best of Texas Clay.