Missing Eve
Carmen Alemán
Missing Eve is a body of work about femicide inspired by statistics gathered from the United Nations, regarding violence against women.
The United Nations recognizes that some 200 million women and girls are ‘demographically missing’ worldwide, at this moment in time. The scale of this phenomenon varies globally and has many different causes, such as sex selective abortion, human trafficking, sex slavery, female abduction, honour killings, domestic violence, and so on. The most extreme cases known as femicide involve the killing of women just because they are women. Missing Eve commemorates all women around the world who are suffering, or have suffered, from violence and abuse.
The work has been shown in several ways; as an installation (Missing Eve IV) and as a living sculpture and performance (Missing Eve II). I wanted the piece to be made from second-hand clothes that were previously worn by women. It is as if the clothes have absorbed memories and become a ‘second skin’. When people disappear, often the first things that people find are their personal belongings, including items of clothing, which serve as clues to identify the bodies. The ball of clothes serves as a poignant reminder of this and are symbolic of their missing bodies.
Making and performing the piece was emotionally overwhelming and physically demanding. Layer by layer, knot by knot, the clothes were wrapped around each other to form an ever growing sphere representing the world and highlighting the weight of a recurring social problem—one that is difficult to untangle. As the ball became bigger, the weight became considerable. I could also sense the energy from the clothes—the smell, the body fluids, the stains, and the sweat. And as the killing continues, the piece remains a work in progress, never finished, an ongoing memoria.
Watch the performance pieces Missing Eve II (performance) and Missing Eve III Collective performance (2019-ongoing)
Learn more about Carmen’s work here.