The Mothership - Artist Mothers at MAWA Exhibition

Opening: Friday, May 3, 6 - 9pm
Exhibition continues: Wednesday - Friday, 10am - 4pm, May 3 - 24, 2019

Back to the mothership! A mother’s body is the universe of the unborn, an inner space they float in like astronauts. The mothership can be big, enveloping, alien, watery, and homey. It’s the time and energy we devote to mothering, and the households we run, steer, and keep afloat. It’s the UFO of unidentified (unpaid, underpaid, uncounted) labour. It’s the earth we call our mother and our home. It’s a title—like a knighthood or a lordship—that we bear with pride, or a torch passed between women and other caregivers. It’s the nest we shelter our children in, then nudge them out of in time. It’s flying saucers, literally! It’s our messes and failures, our inner compasses, our burdens, and our joys. The Artist Mothers at MAWA invite you to an out-of-this-world group exhibition about motherhood.

About Artist Mothers at MAWA

The acts and demands of child-rearing are exhausting and challenging. While caregiving, it can feel like we are not taken seriously as artists. Some women give up artmaking completely. Others refuse to choose, believing that artmaking is an oxygen mask one must put on before assisting little ones. The Artist Mothers Group at MAWA extends an invitation to all artist-mothers to come and meet other women who embrace both mothering and artistic production. This peer-based group usually meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Meetings are relaxed and informal. The group experiments with art materials, critiques each other’s work and shares snacks, concerns, ideas, inspiration, strategies and support for those who juggle the tricky life of artmaking and mothering. If you can’t make the meetings, please consider participating in the Artist Mothers at MAWA Facebook page, Artist Mothers at MAWA.

Artist Mothers at MAWA is facilitated by Sandra Brown.