Throughout history, most women depicted in stained glass artwork are saints. The majority of these saints were virgins, many of whom suffered gruesome violent deaths rather than lose their “purity.”
Rather than be celebrated for their purity, this piece, titled 98, pays tribute women’s freedom to sexually express themselves and protest sexual violence. The title, 98, is taken from a Department Of Justice statistic that says ever 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.
For 98, forty diverse women were photographed nude in various color schemes. These photos were then printed on a transparent film arranged to look like a traditional stained glass ceiling. The physical structure was constructed out of plexiglass and steel.
The installation 98 was 60 feet long, 10 feet high and 5 feet wide. The exhibit was shown in Pershing Square, located at the heart of Downtown Los Angeles.