The MotherLode Assembly.

Living on Rubibi (Broome) in Western Australia, The MotherLode Assembly is an artist collective inspired by the magic and mess of motherhood. Formed in 2021, their collective work explores the territory of motherhood, identity and the diminishing separation between being an artist and a mother through collaboration, performance, installation, textile, drawing, painting, printmaking video.

Their work invites audiences in to explore the territory of motherhood, identity and the creativity inherent in motherhood: How can the monotonous repetition, crazy chaos, glorious moments, accidents and frustrations of our daily lives inspire and inform creativity?

Scroll below to see snippets from The Cave of Wonders, a magical communal space stitched from domestic detritus in echo of the old sheet forts or blanket cubbies we sought imaginative refuge in as children. Steeped in the cold tea of the domestic realm, the everyday subject matter, materials, and techniques employed by the MotherLode draws viewers in to reflect, share stories, memories and observations on the ugly beauty of ‘mothering’ in a friendly, safe and non-judgemental way. The collective dialogue shared over various workshops is transcribed into art by artists and audience alike onto the walls of The Cave of Wonders gradually forming a moving, evolving archive that records the multifarious mother spaces in contemporary Australian society. 

Accompanying The Cave of Wonders is a MotherLode of collaged crap on a wall. A wall of fleeting moments captured and transformed through artistic expression pasted together floor-to-ceiling, revealing a fraught tautology of mother-artist creation on paper. The creative process of recording the everyday experiences of motherhood functions as a mirror on the maternal; the performance of the artworks reflecting the oft-fractured, chaotic, layered and unfinished nature of mothering. This is seen through the intersection of deliberate and accidental mark-making techniques, ripped, scrunched and torn sketches, flooded paper or delightful collaborative approaches to artistic expression - some invited, others a surprise.

Scroll down to see what we've been up to…

Send us an email if you’d like to tap into the rich mineral vein of the MotherLode with us x