Maxene White

Healing Uteri Buddha

Whitewater, Wisconsin

Acts of Resistance take great strength from those who have the awareness, energy, & time to fight back. My “Self-Defined Uterus” represents a space for the women of the world, who are having a war waged against them, to heal. It is both an internal & external place for the collective to replenish, rest, and re-strengthen.  My Buddha imagery intuitively aligns itself to Eastern sources of Ancient Wisdom Traditions. The bowl depicted, for instance, traditionally represents a Buddha who brings healing to human suffering.  This healing Buddha is a non-white feminist who compassionately “sits” for all those who cannot. She is distinctively clad in a robe of intertwining gold & green. I see the gold as representing the strengths which give her the power to commit acts of resistance: Self-control, which gives her a calm integrity from a “lived balance”, and self-confidence, which provides a deep reservoir of energy.   Intertwined with the gold in her robe are plant forms of a healing green, representing a wisdom attained through a continuing respect for Nature Primordial.  The visible intersection of the Buddha with the large uterus is most important to both the aesthetics of the image and our acts of continued collective resistance. It is at this intersection where we breakthrough the boundaries of perceived reality. Fight back!