Tracy

Tracy works full-time as an attorney, is mother to an 8-year-old daughter who is a budding martial arts wonder-girl, and handles almost all of the domestic labor in her home. Soft-spoken and reserved, Tracy is the steady hand at the wheel. She manages her competing responsibilities with grace and organization. As her world swirls around her—court appearances, karate practices, cooking every night—Tracy is the unmovable object in the center.

Though around 50% of law school grads are women, only 19% of equity partners in law firms are women. The numbers are much lower for women of color: 3%. One factor contributing to these discrepancies is the disproportionate amount of unpaid work women are doing at home and in their communities. Even at the office, women are more often assigned non-promotable tasks and “office housework”– work that is essential to the company but doesn’t advance the woman’s career.

Tracy’s paid labor hours are represented in her sculpture by weighty, mortar forms—grounded and measured, though not perfect. Her unpaid labor hours are also structured, geometric shapes, but the wireframes are less visible, less substantial, as women’s labor is often accorded less status socially. Spaces in the grid indicate the waking hours when she was not working.