Dana Donaty
Heart of Gold, 2024
anatomical figure, anger, Astroturf, gold leaf, crushed velvet, fear, human heart anatomy model, loathing, sorrow, wood
14x18x16
 
A Heart of Gold exposes how women are conditioned to be kind, grateful, and compliant, even when institutional care causes harm. The work emerged from a medical misdiagnosis that nearly resulted in an unnecessary bypass surgery. In response, a gilded anatomical heart contains a seated figure raising a defiant middle finger. Gold sanctifies selflessness; the heart becomes the site where obedience is enforced. By embedding refusal within this organ, the piece challenges medical authority and the medical‚ industrial complex, asserting bodily autonomy and lived experience against systems that regulate women's pain, rage, and survival.