Jodi Bonassi - Sterile But Brand New

mixed media on plywood, 17” x 24.5”

I am sterile. On the left is my hand with the hospital bracelet and I see the bracelet naked and there’s this woman attached to it but she’s not me and my hand reaches down towards what was me but I’m gone and I can’t make babies anymore. I want trees, I want the park, I want to be out of this white sterile place. In the upper right you
see these brown lines that are like pitchforks and an open mouth screaming as I dream faceless. And the hospital forms have to be signed. That lady is smiling like I’m new and OK and I just want to go home. To create each painting in this Surgical series:I draw my images on the plywood (mostly from imagination), using photos of myself loosely just for my facial features. Then I paint with acrylics, adding materials from surgical procedures that I have had and then again paint into some of the areas. These are emotionally driven works, a self portrait about my body. I did not really desire to show these works until now as it is an intimate exploration of the hidden parts of me.