My work is an exploration of my personal experiences of motherhood and the implications that being a mother has had on my relationship with the world, my son, and myself.
Through extensive research into maternal artwork, psycho-analytical and theoretical texts on motherhood, the past two years since returning to university after a year’s maternity leave has seen a fluid development within my work.
This final year has seen my artwork evolve into an in-depth examination of myself and my circumstances. Inspired by contemporary artists such as Mary Kelly and Susan Hardy, I strive within my work to present an honest representation of my experiences, unafraid of not conforming to a conventional, traditional and idealised portrayal of a mother and child’s relationship.
My diptych of paintings, “One” and “One plus One” are a visualisation of the struggle to find cohesion in my identity as both a young woman, and a mother. Using a diary to document everyday life and routine (both with and without my son), I have formulated these paintings through responding to the documented events by layering colour, texture and improvisational mark making within the space to build a cumulative insight into each identity.
These expressionistic paintings are symbiotic in their nature, where they rely one another for contextualization, and therefore they cannot stand alone as individual artworks. This symbiotic quality is directly reflective of the reliant nature of the two identities I explore within each painting.
Mae fy ngwaith yn ystyried fy mhrofiadau personol o fod yn fam a’r goblygiadau o fod yn fam ar fy mherthynas â’r byd, fy mab a fi fy hun.
Drwy ymchwil eang i weithiau celf mamol, testunau seicdreiddiadol a damcaniaethol ar famolaeth, mae’r ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf ers dychwelyd i’r brifysgol ar ôl l cyfnod mamolaeth wedi gweld datblygiad hylifol yn fy ngwaith.
Mae’r flwyddyn olaf hon wedi fy gweld fy ngwaith celf yn datblygu’n archwiliad manwl ohono i fy hun a‘m hamgylchiadau. Wedi fy ysbrydoli gan artistiaid cyfoes megis Mary Kelly a Susan Hardy, rwyf yn ymdrechu yn fy ngwaith i gyflwyno fy mhrofiadau yn onest, heb boeni am beidio â chydymffurfio â phortreadu perthynas mam a’i phlentyn yn gonfensiynol , traddodiadol a delfrydol.
Mae diptych fy mheintiadau, “One” a “One plus One” yn delweddu’r ymdrech i ddod o hyd i gydlyniad yn fy hunaniaeth fel menyw ifanc ac fel mam. Gan ddefnyddio dyddiadur i gofnodi bywyd a threfn o ddydd i ddydd (gyda fy mab a hebddo), dw i wedi creu’r peintiadau hyn drwy ymateb i’r digwyddiadau a gofnodwyd gan haenliwio lliw, gwead a gwneud marciau byrfyfyr o fewn y gofod i roi cipolwg cronnol ar y ddwy hunaniaeth. Mae’r peintiadau mynegiadol hyn yn symbiotig eu natur lle maen nhw’n dibynnu ar ei gilydd i fod yn gyd-destunol, ac felly, ni allan nhw sefyll ar eu pen eu hunain fel gweithiau celf unigol. Mae’r nodwedd symbiotig hwn yn adlewyrchu natur ddibynnol y ddwy hunaniaeth yn uniongyrchol, y ddwy hunaniaeth yr ydw i’n eu hystyried yn y ddau beintiad.
