During the spring of 2023, I started a self directed artist in residency on "Motherhood". You can read more on that residency by clicking the link. A pretty broad topic, but I quickly zeroed in on a few themes I was drawn to explore in my studio, namely: bodies, the female form, and the metamorphosis female bodies go through during pregnancy to bring life into this world.
METAMORPHOSIS: For starters, I have always been enamored by the physical expansion my body goes through during pregnancy. This being my third pregnancy, I knew I wanted to devote time to exploring my changing body over time as an artist in my studio. For my artist in residency, I began doing "body printing" where I use a variety of mediums to print my actual physical body- It was amazing to step back and observe the shapes that would emerge from the prints I was making. In short, I became enamored with the magic of it. "Printing" my body felt like I was sort of capturing a fleeting physical experience in that exact moment. I knew I had to move from the exploratory phase in the corner of my studio to painting.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BATHING SUIT: As I began to paint, I drew inspiration from a series of both portraits and self portraits I had taken during the summer in my bathing suit. Growing up in Florida along the Atlantic coast, I lived in my bathing suit all year long. I would wear it under my work clothes so I could visit the beach on my lunch break. My bathing suit became a staple and it's the item of clothing I find myself most comfortable in. It almost feels like an extension of my identity and wearing it pregnant or not makes me feel strong.
THE FEMALE FORM: So as any good artist does, you set out to explore all these themes through imagery. I started to think of my own changing body, how incredibly proud I was of all that it was capable of, to gestate, birth, and eventually nurse three babies. Wow. I regularly took time during my pregnancy to just be in awe of my body. I started to notice more the diversity of other women and mothers around me. Their body shapes, their skin colors..... So this collection of "Summer Bodies" is a complete celebration of the female form. Big, small, young, old, postpartum, curvy, straight. I view the female form as a symbol of power and strength. It is also well-known that this time period of a woman's life, namely the childbearing years, is considered the "summer" cycle of a woman's life. I am confident this exploration of this theme and "season" of my life will continue to rear it's head in my art practice and I'm excited to see where it continues to lead me.