Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake…
It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Tombs of Atuan
Signe illuminates broader societal patterns of gendered violence, the systemic institutional silencing of survivors, and the absences that follow.
The installation presents headstones at Rosehill Cemetery, one of Chicago’s oldest memorial parks, drawing attention to the names of women. Many inscriptions identify women through relational terms, such as “his wife,” reflecting the ways women are historically remembered in relation to others rather than as individuals.
By isolating and enlarging these names, the series invites reflection on absence, memory, and endurance. Functioning as both a reflective archive and a commentary on the social structures that shape recognition and visibility, the work asks viewers to engage with time, repetition, and remembrance in a contemplative space.
In the United States, an average of three to four women are killed each day by a current or former intimate partner. Three images are added daily to register the ongoing scale of loss.
