Parent? Mother? Artist?
A collaboration with fellow artist Leonora Lockhart. We are responding to academic and popular literature around the impact of motherhood on artist careers and our own lived experience as mother-artists. As students at the Royal College of Art we expanded the space for critical dialogue around this topic and the implications of educational structures on the lived experience of parent-artist-students. This sits within the broader public discussion of underrepresentation in the arts. Specifically, even though there are more women than men at art schools, men are disproportionately successful in their artist careers, as judged by gallery representation and other parameters. Motherhood is one factor in the lack of representation of women.
As 2nd Shift, we will continue to respond creatively and build upon the strong multi-disciplinary networks that we have established with mother/parent-artists.
As 2nd Shift, we will continue to respond creatively and build upon the strong multi-disciplinary networks that we have established with mother/parent-artists.
RuptureXIBIT Spring Residency 2024
Both our primary research and secondary research reveals that one of the biggest career barriers that mother-artists face is access to residencies – which usually involve time spent away from home, due to childcare responsibilities. Curators and gallerists look for residencies on CVs, and mostly, in our workshops, residencies were considered to be 'just not an option', but there seem to be few alternatives in the pathway for an emerging artist.
Through an open call, we secured a residency at RuptureXIBIT and invited three early career artist-mothers to access a 'day' residency around their caring responsibilities. In keeping with the ethos of RuptureXIBIT, we came together in a critical space where the artists were encouraged to experiment, take risks, push forward their practice and share knowledge.
Artists who are mothers often work late at night, once the family is in bed, and domestic 'duties' are done.
Night Studio: a performance of working - making the unseen visible.
May 23, 2024 8-10pm
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