GOOD GIRLS & BAD 1994

War Memorial is a wall on which she wrote the names and ages of over 2000 women and girls who were murdered by husbands, fathers and other strangers, collected from newspapers. At the bottom of the wall, she placed objects which reflect women and girls’ romantic notions. Referencing the Vietnam War Memorial, this memorial is meant to convey the fact that there is a very real war being waged against women; a war rarely, if ever, acknowledged.

Homage to Ana Mendieta: Mendieta was a 36 year old artist who “fell” to her death from a high window in her 26th floor apartment in Manhattan in 1985. Her husband, sculptor Carl Andre, whose works can be found in every major museum, was charged with her murder. Provided with four of the best New York attorneys by his gallery and other financially interested parties, he was acquitted. In an eerie resemblance to her own art, her body indented the adjacent first-floor roof with the impact of her fall. Mary Ellen made the layered tiles out of roofing tar paper. The grid on the floor is meant to reference the work of Carl Andre, and the candles, Ana’s.

Veils consists of 39 images with seemingly unrelated text from news sources, each placed under a black crepe veil. It addresses the oppression of women worldwide, making connections between cultures. Viewers have to lift the veils to see the images and read the text.

250 Words for Women is an artist book which contains dictionary definitions placed over an image of a woman in black chador. The woman’s image advances on you like a flip-book as you turn the pages. Objects Arranged Alphabetically is a 16 foot long shelf which contains objects directly related to the above book.

Her Way is a set of women’s cotton briefs on which Mary Ellen drew medical illustrations of female genital mutilation. In 80 Million, (now estimated at 130 million) she embroidered the same illustrations on sexy panties, and to the image she added slang terms for women’s genitals. She sought to draw comparisons between repressive “other” cultures and our own. Chador also bears the 250 words for women, here written across this women’s body covering, while Wedding Dress carries some nasty bloodstains.