Wangechi Mutu
Tumours of the Uterus
2005, collage on found
medical illustration paper
45.7 x 32.4cm |
In her series Histology of the Different Classes of Uterine Tumour, Wangechi Mutu uses 19th century medical diagrams as a basis for invented portraiture. The original illustrations, symbolic of colonial power, suggest a wide range of cultural pre-conceptions: from the ‘superiority’ of European ‘knowledge’ to the classification of nature (and consequently race) into genealogical hierarchies. In Uterine Tumor, Mutu challenges these imposed values, using physical disease as a metaphor for social corruption. |
