Diminishing Hold

‍My art practice explores the intersection of motherhood and art-making. My investigations involve cycles of transition, from home to art studio. Creating installations while revealing the unseen labour of care attached to motherhood. This is driven by necessity to find time to be both mother and artist.

‍Diminishing Hold stems from walks with my daughter and the activity of collecting sticks. I see the work as a collaboration between mother and daughter. I love the simplicity of a stick as an object of open-ended play. The sticks are later decorated with materials synonymous with my home; such as beads, clay, string, broken cups, rice and beans. Through my interventions the stick's transformation into a decorated object is symbolic of my everyday interaction with the natural world while living in the city. In the studio, I construct the sticks intuitively, meticulously finding ways to balance them. While making, I often experience a feeling of flow and timelessness, this being a different state to the presence in my home. As a parent, I am often pulled from the task at hand to manage several tasks at once. The video work, Multitasking, evolved from physical interaction with my sculpture installation. The sculpture was constructed on modular boards on wheels. My long career as a circus artist lends itself to a natural inclination for performance with my artwork. The performative element is experiential and embodies an abstract physical symbology, becoming an extension of personal story embedded within the artwork.

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Diminishing Hold, 2021  

sculpture installation  

2500 mm

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