Carmen Mariscal

Calladita Te Ves Más Bonita (You Look Prettier When You Are Quiet)

2018This box was inspired by a Mexican saying, often said to girls and women, that translates to “You look prettier when you are quiet.” France has a similar saying “Sois belle et tais-toi.” The box contains imprints of the lips of nine different women. I asked the women to wear their favorite lipstick and then make a mark on paper. I put a safety-pin through each one to “close” the lips, reminding us that society wants to shut up women’s voices, women’s opinions, women’s feelings. The lip marks are contained in a small matchbox from La Central, the factory that my great grandfather ran in Mexico. It reminds me of everything that I heard in my childhood about what I should, and should not say. I covered the box with mirrors so that the viewer could see part of his or her own face reflected, especially the lips. I wanted them to see their own lips moving before opening the box and seeing the lips shut. The matchbox is contained in a bigger box that usually holds matches used in kitchens. It is covered in reflective paper too. The boxes are like matryoshkas, one inside the other until we find the lips at the end, with no voice.