The Motherlode.

MotherLode is a celebration of the mess of motherhood by five art-mums. The exhibition explored the territory of motherhood, identity and the diminishing separation between being an artist and a mother.

Deeply steeped in the domestic realm of the maternal, the subject matter, materials, and techniques employed present an interesting dialogue in the interplay between, and policing of, external and internal spaces: physical, mental and ideological. 

A limited-editioned zine supplemented the exhibition functioning as a collaborative artwork in and of itself, providing an insight into the challenges and glimmers of joy that prevail in the everyday grind of mothering. Fleeting moments are captured and transformed through artistic expression revealing a fraught tautology of mother-artist angst. The creative process of recording the everyday experiences of motherhood functions as a perpetual mirror on the maternal; the performance of the artworks reflects the oft-fractured, chaotic, layered and unfinished nature of mothering. We see this through the intersection of deliberate and accidental mark-making techniques via ripped, scrunched and torn sketches, flooded paper or delightful collaborative approaches to artistic expression - some invited, others a surprise!

The value of the mother’s voice to articulate her own authentic experience through tea spills on textas or teabags and crayons provides an insight of both immediacy and intimacy that packs a powerful private vs public, personal is political punch.

Commonly associated with the nature/natural universe, yet defined and bound by rigid social mores driven by the latest ‘scientific’ study or social media parenting trend, it has never been more difficult to define the role of mother and mothering. in the accidents of daily life intersecting into an arts practice