Dawn Petrlik’s hands may have molded the clay that became the dead woman, but the “Lonely Death of Esmin Green” is a work of art that comes from deep in her heart.
“Anyone of us could have been her. Any of our mothers could have been left on that floor to die,” the artist said.
In June, Green, 49, collapsed face-down on the floor of the Kings County Hospital Center’s psychiatric emergency waiting room, where she had been sitting for nearly a day.
For almost one hour, no one paid heed as the lady, a mother of six, lay dying.
The sad, ghastly scene was captured by the hospital’s surveillance cameras, and became national news.
Petrlik, who had recently been caring for her own mother, was compelled to act. She conceived and completed the piece in four days.
Inside Petrlik’s ersatz emergency room is a 200-pound clay model of Green, eight chairs, and a video camera that captures the viewer on a television screen, projecting it above Green’s body.
“So the viewer becomes the viewed,” Petrlik said.
An inescapable culpability is willfully imposed on the viewer.
“I felt that people watching her both in real life and on camera were distancing themselves from her horrific and preventable death,” she added. “If anyone would have gotten involved, she would not have died.”
The piece is on display on weekends at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Red Hook through August 17.
Originally from the Washington D.C. area, Petrlik, 37 has lived in Windsor Terrace for the past 12 years.
“New York is made up of immigrants. We are all chasing dreams. She was trying to make a living to support her family.”
“It was very clear to me that I had something to say,” she said.
Initially, there was concern that the Green family objected to the piece, something that, if true, would have resulted in its dismantling, Petrlik said.
A telephone meeting was brokered between Petrlik and the family.
Petrlik spoke to Green’s oldest daughter, 31-year-old Tecia Harrison.
“She understood this piece of art caused more people to talk about her mother and the change that needs to happen to prevent this from happening to someone else’s mother,” Petrlik said.
“They are in great grief right now,” she said of the family. “Having your mother die is enough. But having her die horrifically in front of the world is unimaginable.”
Soon, more people may be talking about Esmin Green.
Petrlik said has had discussions with a major New York museum about donating the piece to its collection.
The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition is located at 499 Van Brunt Street. For information call (718) 596-2506.
