Motherhood
Pieces of My Self-Portrait
2023
Available
I don’t draw or paint figures. However, the figures I drew, collaged, and painted in the series are my intuitive exploration, representing instances that were significant to me from childhood to motherhood. I needed to embed them with mandalas to narrate my stories.
This series became my first body of work as I emerged from the creative block I experienced in 2022.
I felt vulnerable, but it was freeing.
Motherhood
When I was in my early twenties, my mother wanted me to learn cooking and sewing and would tap on my shoulder and show me how to keep the home organized. I deliberately steered away and displayed resistance. Regardless, I was never disgraceful or disrespectful when she needed help around the house. I liked the home organization, but certainly not cooking or sewing. Before I moved to the United States with my husband, she hand-wrote an entire book full of recipes for her consolation to shield her lack of success with me. I am grateful to her!
Not one day I was passed without thinking of my mom when I became a mother. Everything I took for granted, I began to appreciate more. Being a mother is beautiful, although parenting can be difficult. My children opened a whole new world to me, and I have learned from them as much as I share what I know. I have become a better cook, but sewing is not my thing yet. Well, I am blessed to be a painter, and I get to share my stories!
Consciously or unconsciously, we notice and pick up patterns that we become aware of later in our lives. A mandala is a tool that helps me to reflect upon the ways that serve or do not serve me well.
Medium
Mixed Media on cradled board
Image Size
6" H X 12" W X 1.5" D
The artwork is original and signed. The painting is varnished for protection, wired, and ready to hang. No framing is required.