Body Parts for Sale Series: 08 Children

about the exhibition

Explore my inspiration for the Body Parts for Sale exhibition in this blog post - Body Parts for Sale Series: Intro

CHILDREN

Adoption is a beautiful thing. Children can be given a new and better life, and childless couples can start a family.

In 2017, 142 children were adopted from across the world and brought to Sweden. For other countries, such as Denmark or the UK, that number lies around 4,000. The vast majority of adoptive children within the EU come from Russia, Ethiopia, China and Colombia, but many adoptions take place within the same country. An adoption process can take many years before the child is brought home to their adoptive parents and they live happily ever after.

But is adoption always a happy story?

Aside from the lawful, humanitarian driven adoption process we most often see, there is a tragic reality of corruption and desperation. From agencies charging prospective parents in other countries and keeping the money to themselves, to so called “child finders” that scout for children with certain qualities and downright kidnap them to sell through agencies.

Collagraph Art - Body Parts for Sale - 08 Children

This print was the most challenging to make in the whole series. I had a clear idea but couldn’t figure out what materials to use. I wanted the print to symbolise rows of children with empty spaces here and there for the children that were kidnapped for adoption. In the end I couldn’t find what I was looking for and had to change the idea to fit the materials I had available. But that wasn’t the end of the challenges.

DSC01210.jpgCollagraph Art - Body Parts for Sale - 08 Children

I used sequins that I had at home and punched a bigger hole in them. Then I glued vlieseline to a 1 mm cardboard and used spray mount to glue the sequins on top. Which wasn’t so easy, they didn’t glue very well to the vlieseline and when I put on the shellac a lot of the sequins fell off. More lost children. The same happened during inking and rubbing off the ink. Even more lost children. I imagined the print would be sharp and clear but the end result is something else. Through the process it turned to something rough, dirty and messy. More powerful than what I started with.