Status of Women showcases profiles of ten diverse women artists from my Facebook Los Angeles network friends list. The title is a play on ideas questioning literally, how far women have come in the 21st century— the real condition of women in contemporary society— and what women choose to post as status messages on their Facebook "walls."

I'm investigating intersections of culture, art and technology as well as notions of class, territory and access. Although the social networking process seems open and democratic, it is ultimately controlling since, for instance, what one has to say, "What's on your mind?" limits the user to a specific number of characters. In effect, one can share what's on one's mind, but only in a specific number of words. In spite of such limitations do women take part in social networking because it provides a sense of empowerment; and are profile pages viewed as virtual rooms of one's own?

These questions as well as the interactions, levels of participation, communities, collaborations & self promotion that occur on Facebook are intriguing and deserving of further exploration.

Status of Women was inititially presented at "Harmony Reverberates Optimism" curated by Ronald Lopez at the McNish Gallery at Oxnard College.

Curator's Statement: "Ofunne Obiamiwe presents her latest project, Status of Women, an interactive project inspired by Facebook celebrating ten contemporary women and their roles in their respective fields. Obiamiwe presents a video of a constructed forum, ten Facebook like profile pages, bras, and an interactive component which enables viewers to comment on a “wall”, in this case a black book, all revolving around these ten women."