WOW MOM
Curated by Klea McKenna and Yulia Pinkusevich and Angie Wilson
Opening Aug. 10, 2024 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Closing Sept. 7, 2024 noon - 4 p.m.
This group exhibition brings together the work of 27 artists who each define
themselves as both artists and moms. Their wide-ranging work makes evident that
motherhood does not dictate the subject matter, but it does shape the conditions of
production. Through painting, ceramics, textiles, photography, printmaking and
sculpture these artworks explore female embodiment, anxiety for the future, joyful
play, labor, mortality and formal abstraction. Rather than subject matter, the
connective thread is the context from which this work originates: the collective
experience of matrescence in a culture that tells us that Artist and Mother are mutually
exclusive roles. A fractured identity and the splintering of one’s time and thought
process often informs the way these artists create. When seen together, their work
raises the question: can a fragmented schedule and psyche be understood not only
as an obstacle to creativity, but as a necessary condition for a particular kind of
creative production? What can mothers make that others can’t?
Founded in 2017 by artists Ali True and Klea McKenna, WOW MOM is a critique
group for working artists who are also moms. The founding intention was to create
professional level critique in a context of peer support for women navigating the art
world as new mothers. Throughout seven years of monthly meetings, there has been
a changing cast of artists and facilitators, and our mission has expanded to include
artists at any stage of motherhood. WOW MOM is currently facilitated by Angie
Wilson and Yulia Pinkusevich. This is our first exhibition of work by participating
artists.
