In A Day in the Life of Maria Rosario, a Working Woman, Argentinian artist Diana Dowek expresses her personal and artistic commitment to human rights by dedicating a series to a worker in a biscuit factory. Through her paintings, Dowek takes a longer look at on overlooked member of society, revealing the soul of this worker and giving voice to a group of ignored people, including her three thousand factory coworkers.

"I chose Maria Rosario to underline the importance of women in social struggles and in solidarity activities," says Diana Dowek. "Among the many possible images of women that carry out these struggles, I thought about the factory worker, who is not only absent from media, but also from the history of Argentinian art. From my position, I fight against discrimination and against the denigration of women in any domain. Although Maria Rosario doesn't work in a very creative occupation, work is important to people's self-esteem and dignity."

Though Dowek's works ends up looking more like painting than photographs, she uses a painting and photo transfer process that lends a documentary feel to the final product. Her images represents the impersonal coldness of the place and the repetitiveness of the tasks, by using cinematographic techniques like sequences, close-up, depth of field, framing, and the search for movement in black and white with purple-tinted grays.

EDITORIAL NOTES

A large portion of the Argentine working class is unionized, including most factory workers. Trade unions are typically very influential in political matters and were the crucial constituency in several historic elections, though some say their political power has waned in the past decade as a result of several reformed labor laws.

Despite the fact that unions are an entrenched part of the Argentine economy, and that women are a significant part of the labor force, women's participation in labor unions remains low. There are a few labor unions dedicated to and run by women, such as the Women's Union of Argentina, but for the most part women remain underrepresented.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Diana Dowek studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires and is an artist and activist for human rights. She has received multiple awards for her work from institutions including the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Rosa Galisteo, and the Cordoba Museum of Fine Arts. She lives and works in Argentina.