Lisa Irvall

Labor. Work. How are they disparate? The installation “Labor” explores how we value work differently, and how this seeing or non seeing perpetuates inequality. Research continuously shows that women’s psychological and physical well-being is negatively affected by unpaid domestic labor, often in combination with a career outside the home. At first glance the installation visually refers to manual measurable labor but then places it in relation the immeasurable – the invisible labor performed by women worldwide, in the form of care work and domestic chores. It is an attempt to materialize the consequential pain of being undervalued as a woman, mother, and worker in the home. The installation furthermore addresses the misconceptions surrounding motherhood and how shame hinders an honest and open dialogue about the work of being a mother/caregiver.

The installation consists of 29 large manually labored hand-forged steel hooks, and a set of take away cards with prompts for conversation. The cards are intended to encourage an open dialogue about motherhood and how we value labor today.