Healing Henge: A Space for Complex Emotions is a multi-media installation. This work evolved from research around the negative effects of stigmatization on people who have had abortions, particularly those in proximity to evangelical and fundamentalist religious beliefs. Qualitative sociological studies* have found that people who experience religious and socially based stigmatization because of their decision to end a problematic pregnancy encounter a lack of vital emotional support and lack spaces to process multifaceted feelings. These individuals often resort to silence as a coping mechanism to avoid the negative judgmental impacts of stigmatization. This silence further alienates them. Fabric panels embedded with earth pigment from the state of Mississippi create a Henge-like, semi-private form. A disco ball in the center of the space creates spiraling reflections of light cast by a projected image of the flower Queen Anne’s Lace. Queen Anne’s Lace has been used by people in the United States as a natural abortifacient for centuries and grows wild in Mississippi. The use of earth pigments from Mississippi and the reference to Queen Anne’s Lace are acts of reclamation: to reclaim people’s ability to choose reproductive autonomy and control over one’s reproductive health from the state whose litigation is responsible for blocking this right for millions of people in the United States. The henge, a neolithic, pre-Christian form, creates a sacred space for privacy, and healing from stigmatization and creates a supportive, non-judgmental space for community to grow. The space can be activated by dancing to release serotonin, by practicing yoga, by screaming to release anger or by sitting in quiet meditation. These are all activities known to reduce stress and regulate one’s nervous system.
*1 Jonelle Husain & Kimberly Kelly (2017) Stigma Rituals as Pathways to Activism: Stigma Convergence in Post Abortion Recovery Groups, Deviant Behavior, 38:5, 575-595
2 Katrina Kimport, (Mis) Understanding Abortion Regret, Symbolic Interaction, Vol 35, #2, 105-118 (2012)
3 Kimberly Kelly, The Spread of ‘Post Abortion Syndrome’ as social diagnosis, Social Science & Medicine 102 (2014) 18-25