Trinity Site [from the series Nuclear Waste(d)]

Images(2)

Trinity Site [from the series Nuclear Waste(d)]

Artist Judy Chicago (American, born 1939)

Date1989

Mediumsprayed acrylic, oil and photography on photolinen

DimensionsCanvas: 16 × 20 × 3/4 in. (40.6 × 50.8 × 1.9 cm)
Frame: 21 1/2 × 25 3/8 × 3/4 in. (54.6 × 64.5 × 1.9 cm)

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineGift of Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman, 2011

Object number2011.11.8

DescriptionA painting on a photograph that pictures a woman painted standing at the Trinity Site. Some of her musculature is visible on the exterior of her body, and she holds her hands up as if praying or making an offering. From her mouth comes a speech scroll that reads “urameshiya.”
Text Entries

Emuseum Notes

In the Nuclear Waste(d) series, Judy Chicago addresses the negative consequences of the nuclear industry in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb. These are collaborative works that employ photographs by Donald Woodman of various nuclear-related sites throughout the state, that were then painted on by Judy Chicago. Among the sites the series addresses are the Trinity Site, where the first atomic bomb was detonated; Grants, where much of the uranium was mined for the bombs, causing great health and environmental problems for the Native Americans upon whose lands the mines are located; and WIPP, the waste site in southern New Mexico. The woman pictured in Trinity Site appears to be making an offering or offering a prayer at the site of the first atomic bomb. The word she says, “urameshiya,” is a Japanese word that is said to be uttered by ghosts and has the sense of bearing a grudge or having hard feelings toward something.

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Not on view

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