Connecting with The Other Mother Project, and painting time.
Had a teams interview with Jennifer Anyan for The Other Mother Project. An insightful conversation that probes into personal experiences of motherhood but is also interested in what mothers look like and wear (following conversation after her own children were born, where men would say - "you don't look like a mum" as though it were a compliment, but no dads had ever been told, they don't look like a dad) I had the same experience when I was in my early twenties - almost as though men had an expectation that women would be entirely ruined by childbirth and surprised when they still had a figure or wore a certain outfit.
The conversation was a little bit like being asked why you feel you're deviant from the norm, in the same way that someone neurodiverse is expected to acknowledge their differences from neurotypical. It's impossible, other than, to acknowledge that you've been treated differently because you're not doing what is expected in social norm world. I couldn't answer what a mum should look like because I believe in intersectional feminism, and I can't say what's different after my children, because they were always with me from my childhood.
I felt I needed to reiterate that men have had the biggest impact on my experience of motherhood, relationships, support, expectations, how men have impacted my mother and mother in law and myself........
Jennifer is interested in fashion and lens based art focused on the Madonna, but her research has tipped into natural belief systems and the witch. Interesting chat, a different angle on the Maternal, to my own line of enquiry.
It sat with me a lot today how the questions that she asked were so indicative of what she was interested in. Made me think of my contact centre surveys where we were really careful what questions we asked because some questions are constructed in a way that they get particular answers.
I've considered conversations in my practice after talking with Katrina Wilde.. I'm pondering.
This was a comment towards the end of the interview.. I can't speak about my own or my mothers maternal experience without considering the circumstances around them which are very much influenced by men and their roles, behaviours and expectations - it's all tied together. There are toxic male behaviours in my past.. but my husband is amazing. He is stuck with patriarchal expectations and has his own frustrations - and was raised by an amazing woman -who also is a generation before me, with a different reality of how she has lived and raised her son, and what he then expects on the back of that from me..its complicated.
Painted a bit more of Weezi (My sister in a witches hat) Need to backtrack slightly in some areas...will look at it again on Monday..
Had a play with another acrylic background on canvas. I like having licence to do some quick practice paintings..they;re not really important but they let me work things out and who knows, maybe I can sell some of them when they're "something"
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