Motherhood in the Capitalist End-Times
2023
Glass baby food jar with hollow core house image and Gerber's lid
From Debra: Parenting an infant upends one's sense of self and stability in the best of times. Choosing to become a parent during the era of (potentially catastrophic) climate change can be even more fraught and frightening.
The house inside the baby food jar is sliding off its foundation, accompanied by the text on the lid "MyGerber.com/ClimateJourney," representing the monumental changes of both parenthood and global warming.
Heap
2022
Bronze, steel, aluminum
In many ways, we live in hopeful times where institutions that have defined the Western world are changing. Each of the crowns is made to represent an aspect of society that has undergone an upheaval - religion, royalty, capitalism, war/ the military-industrial complex, patriarchy, and white supremacy. This work represents the hope that each of these institutions will soon find itself in the trash heap, replaced by egalitarian structures.
Time (or Squirrel Capitalism)
2023
Wood box, velvet, bronze
This box examines the concept that the stages of an acorn are a measure of time for a squirrel. The hiding of acorns also represents a form of wealth for squirrels, as a large cache will ensure the lives of an entire squirrel family. Human beings have exploited animals and treated them as objects - this work attempts to address the squirrel as the subject of his or her own life, while also illustrating similarities to human desires and needs.
About the artist: Debra Couch is a sculptor living in Chicago. Her work focuses on the intersections of human and animal consciousness as well as the human experience under late-stage capitalism.
See more of her work on her website.