Director, Glenn Lowry: In this three-dimensional work, Heinecken is referring to the Hindu deity Shiva—who is typically depicted with multiple arms. Drew Sawyer.
Curator, Drew Sawyer: Here we have a Shiva manifesting as a single mother. We have a mixture of items that might be generally associated with male and female gender roles. We have Tide, we have Spredwall. I think in some ways Heinecken is playing on the idea that Shiva is a sort of bisexual figure, and in contemporary society a single parent might have to take on multiple gender roles in a similar way.
In the late 1980s Heinecken returns to making photo-sculptural works. Throughout his career Heinecken was interested in the way in which mass media imagery and consumer products helped construct our identities. This figure is literally constructed out of these products and out of these images that are in mass magazines.