PURGE

Raised by strict Roman Catholics in rural South Louisiana, Bethany has always been fascinated and inspired by icons, altars and adornment of precious objects. Her art redirects this awe she felt, as a child, for the otherworldly environment of traditional Catholic churches and points toward the shame too-often accorded the body, especially female, in Catholic tradition.

She is reclaiming agency over the female body: its shape, its perception, its relationship to the public gaze. Her work utilizes the female figure as a vessel for precious objects collected from her past, transforming the body into a reliquary. Her sculptures are a visual narration and an act of catharsis, a purging of my past experiences with sexism, domestic abuse, heartbreaking loss, and her ongoing struggle with Endometriosis.