Hys·te·ri·a /həˈstirēə,həˈsterēə/ : “a psychological disorder (not now regarded as a single definite condition) whose symptoms include conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization), selective amnesia, shallow volatile emotions, and overdramatic or attention-seeking behavior. The term has a controversial history as it was formerly regarded as a disease-specific to women.”
Aparicio says, “Unfortunately, I am one of the many victims of sexual harassment by a medical professional. [The] women’s health field is still mostly dominated by men, and the way things are being taught doesn’t differ much from teaching methods from the beginnings of obstetrics in the male world after being stolen from the woman’s hands.” For example, the speculum, invented by a man, has had the same design since the 1800s. Balancing between a medical and torture device, the cold, metal tool evades the body and performs a role all women know very well and a role the majority despise. Propping your legs in a vulnerable, exposed position, like in the stirrups, is not only uncomfortable but violent. Aparicio’s piece Hysteria encases a Hamilton gynecological table by weaving together thorn branches. In the work, the artist has encased the table, a relatable object for many women, with these strands of thorns. The thorns work to impair a full view of the table and create a curtain structure surrounding the table, where the actual thorns face the inside and the gentle side faces the viewer.
Aparicio is a mesmerizing artist. Looking through her portfolio, you will find that she works closely with cadavers in a morgue. Her attention to the body, to death and transition, is interwoven throughout her oeuvre. It makes sense then, that the artist would work as an artist-in-residence at the unique museum here in Chicago. After being a part of a show at the Yale Center for British Art called “William Hunter and the Anatomy of the Modern Museum,” where she spent countless hours at the morgue, and the “difficult birth” of her son, she began to explore themes surrounding obstetric objects.
