Squatting Underground
Twenty Mile Coal Mine
2022
Throughout the history of mining, women's role in coal-based economies has been largely informal and invisible. Despite efforts to counteract gender discrimination, mining labor is still sex-segregated. One of the problems that female miners face is the lack of work garments made explicitly for the female body and the absence of private spaces for women's basic needs in underground mines. The situation gets more complicated when considering that keeping hydrated is necessary to bare the inhospitable conditions of the subterranean environment.
The coveralls used in this installation were designed by Alicia Wood, an ex-miner who devised a solution to get quick access to private parts while immersed in a male-dominated industry.