Mom, 2021
Porcelain, 8 x 12 feet
Installation view at the Bronx Museum Biennial 2021-22
“Mom” is a large-scale wall-hanging sculpture made out of approximately 50 pieces of hand-sculpted, carved, and painted porcelain tiles. It is a self-portrait inspired by living through the covid-19 pandemic, which started when my daughter was one year old. For over a year I cared for her, worked from home, and couldn't get to my studio. One day during naptime I made a drawing that I didn’t intend to show anyone. It was of a snakelike creature made of nurturing breasts, listening ears, and hands- lots and lots of hands doing all the mom things: fluffing a pillow, picking up a stuffed animal, cleaning, wiping, swiping, feeding, doing hair. That drawing became the blueprint for this new work.
The enlargement shifted the work from the small and intimate scale of the sketchpad to the monumental installation-scale of the museum wall. It was created over a period of three months after I was vaccinated and could go back to working outside my home. This shift of scale also represents the movement from the intimate scale of the home to the public setting of the museum.
Details:
And that first drawing:
