'Mater Materia' questions the persistent belief that a “good” artist must be entirely devoted to their practice; that a “good” mother must give herself to the act of raising her children, and that one role excludes the other.
Informed by my own motherhood, the intention of this body of work is to evoke empathy around the challenges of maintaining an artistic practice and sense of identity within the context of motherhood; to articulate an honest embodiment of maternal experience.
Stretching, expanding, nourishing and protecting – the maternal body is the source of all human life.
To create is to bring into existence. I create from clay because of its inherent malleability, embracing visual narratives around the capacity of the female body.
Glaze is applied to the clay as paint to a canvas or skin on flesh, referencing materiality to the strength of a mother’s physical and emotional resilience.
Mater Materia
Mother Muses
Ambivalence
Soothe
Vigour
Serenity
Reflection
Letting Go
Embodiment
Mother Muse