Fruits of Labor — Reframing Motherhood and Artmaking brings together a group of women artists unpacking the vastly personal yet universal experiences of mothering. Encompassing painting, sculpture, video and photography, the exhibition evokes motherhood thematically, but also explores the ways in which this subject appears in artists’ practice, as a mode of work and being.

Their work showcases the rhythms of mothering -– the interrupted and fragmented focus, the nap-length studio time, the lack of resources, the time that both drags on and moves frantically — and how this rhythm unfolds into creative practice.

Coming from the trenches of early motherhood, they juggle the pressing demands of caregiving and making art, not in solitude, but in the domestic space. Doing so, they call for a paradigm shift, arguing that it is not mothering that is incompatible with artmaking but prevailing narratives defining women, caregiving, and artistic expression. This is emphasized by systemic issues affecting women, particularly in the US, where public policies to support families are virtually nonexistent.

 
Bruna Shapira is a curator and arts manager, working primarily with project management, curatorial and provenance research. She owns Supernova Projects, a bespoke art firm that works in the intersection of art, education and enterprise.