Ruby Hutcheson's "Mother Nature"
Ruby Hutcheson (Tallahassee, Florida) began Mother Nature with a handmade bodysuit constructed from trash and detritus that she collected from the roadside on my walks home from school. The resulting visceral photographs convey “the emotions of sadness and disgust that I think we should feel about the way we have treated our planet.”
“Mother Earth cries, scarred by the litter her caregivers have burdened her with. She desperately tries to birth new life unto herself. The grim reality is that we are taking away her ability to support us, as well as the other innocent beings that belong here.
My concept began with a handmade bodysuit constructed from trash and detritus that I collected from the roadside on my walks home from school, supplemented with fake moss upcycled from previous projects and dried flowers from the collection that I’ve preserved over the years. The worms in my mouth symbolize Mother Earth desperately spilling out new life despite the dire circumstances she faces on a daily basis. My goal was to depict a representation of Mother Nature struggling against the loss of her fertility at the harsh and careless hands of her own children.
Beyond just the visuals of this piece the entire experience itself was a form of interactive art for me. Becoming Mother Earth, even if only briefly, through the sensation of live, wriggling earthworms in my mouth, lying for hours against the chilly ground, impaled by sharp plastics and strangled by trash, brought me closer to the experience of a collective Earth. I only hope that this piece might bring forth the emotions of sadness and disgust that I think we should feel about the way we have treated our planet.”
