Threads of Connection–Sorry/Not Sorry: Confronting mother (and other) blame–healing & resistance in contemporary culture and beyond
St. Petersburg, Florida & Online
March 22-24, 2024
CFP – Deadline, Dec. 15, 2023
The Museum of Motherhood is calling all scholars, artists, and community members for presentations and papers on the subject of mother (and other) blame, shame and pain, with a focus on resistance and healing.
Blame and shame can be self-imposed or projected by dominant social narratives that hyper-focus on the performative nature of motherhood as reinforced by unrealistic hegemonic constructions. This can be true for adult children reviewing familial relationships as well.
This international call for papers invites artists, sociologists, maternal psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, women’s sexuality and gender professors, masculinity studies experts, birth-workers, doctors, researchers, students, and lay-people to share their work.
We encourage presenters to unpack the sociocultural domain of mother (and other) blame and the psychological, personal, professional, and media environment within which this topic is situated. Who is harmed by blame, and whom does it serve? How are oppressive systems reinforced or even sustained? How can we resist or dismantle these systems in large and small ways? What forms of resistance, peace-making, and healing can help improve our relationships?
The conference will serve as a site of resistance and empowerment as we deconstruct, reframe, and affirm the complex landscape of care-work and the ongoing labor within family systems everywhere. We recognize the scale, variance, and duration of these passionate debates and hope to this conference will contribute to the body of knowledge on this subject.
Last year’s Annual Academic (and Arts) MoM Conference yielded a marvelous distillation of journal entries on the subject of Reproductive Landscapes, and more. The Journal is now posted online with videos coming soon. MoM’s mission is to serve at the intersection of the arts, scholarship, and the general public, reaching as many women, mothers, academics, and life-long students as possible. We hope you enjoy this year’s edition.
— BIO: Hello! I’m Lera, a high school graduate from Rostov-on-Don, Russia. I aim to further my studies in college with a minor in Women’s Studies. My heart is set on social justice, art history, creative practice, Ed-Tech, and women’s rights. I am a designer and an artist, and my passion lies in the social application of my skill set. Last year, I began my internship at Borderless, an international Ed-Tech company that democratizes study abroad. I also co-founded She Exhibits, a non-profit gallery that counters gender-based discrimination in art. Additionally, I designed a social zine for an organization protecting women in the North Caucasus. Through these roles, I’ve learned a lot about the challenges women face daily. I’m particularly concerned about how women’s rights are being eroded in contexts of wars, authoritarian regimes, and government policies, such as those in Russia that affect reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights. Now, joining MoM as a Graphics & Research Intern, I’m thrilled to deepen my understanding of sociology, women’s rights, and motherhood through working in the vast specter of projects. During my journey at MoM, I’m eager not only to contribute to the women’s rights movement with my expanding skill set but also to further the conversation on motherhood as a daughter of a single mother!
— PASSIONS FOR MOM: I am eager to spend a fruitful year with MoM, engaging with a broad range of projects, intertwining research and art! My contributions to MoM will include graphic content creation, and enhancement of the visuals of different initiatives. I’m also looking forward to conducting research endeavors and taking on creative projects to serve MoM’s community!
We are thrilled to open our doors at our new location in the arts district of St. Petersburg, Florida. Make sure to plan a trip to The Factory and schedule your visit today! Our doors are open to everyone – by donation~ Some events are pre-registration only. They are notated below.
Monday: 5-10 PM Motherhood in Motion; The Mother Founders marching from the past towards the future. Sign up for a class $25. Special film screenings, and private group tours (Pre-Registration Required)
Tuesday-Saturday: 12 PM – 7 PM(See our schedule to determine which hours require pre-registration)
Tuesdays: 11 AM – 12:30 PM Empowerment for All- Mothers Club. Join the Mothers’ Club / 4-7 PM Neurodiverse-friendly for those craving a quiet, low-stimulation experience. (Pre-Registration Required)
Sunday: Book your private event with us!
Monthly
First Thursday: 6-7 PM Women in the Arts (week before Second Saturday (Pre-Registration Required)
Fourth Thursday: 12-2 PM Book group/collage making (Pre-Registration Required)
Second Saturday: Art Walk 5-8:30 (Every month – open to all)
Third Saturday: 2-3PM History on a cushion for ages 5-up. Spend an hour learning about herstory + playtime (Pre-Registration Required)
A Year’s Worth of Exhibits
Sept- Oct 2023: Motherhood in Motion; action & embodiment – featuring the art of Amy Wolf. The seesaw; practicing balance & cooperation in a civil society, and the Founding Mothers (of sociology and beyond)
November -Jan 2023: Mother The Job; 1950’s to Present– featuring the works of Alexia Nye Jackson along with multidisciplinary community narratives.
Feb-April 2024: Threads of Connection- MoM conferencefeaturing: I’m sorry/not sorry; confronting mother blame and healing in contemporary culture and beyond– featuring the Mother Tree by Helen Hiebert & Madison Hendry.
May- July 2024: Interiors – Goddesses & the Geography of a Woman: featuring Christen Clifford and the Goddesses of Malta.
WHO: The Museum of Motherhood (MoM) – empowering women and mothers to take their rightful place in the museum world.
WHAT: Motherhood in Motion; embodiment in action- One of four quarterly exhibitions featuring the art, science, and history of women, mothers, and families inclusive of all reproductive identities at our new space in the Warehouse District.
WHERE: The Factory, 2622 Fairfield Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
WHEN: Grand opening September 9th, 2023 (Second Saturday Art Walk) 6-8PM
Motherhood In Motion; embodiment in action- presents interactive installations that celebrate the transformative journey of women, m/others, and families reimagining women’s place and progress in society.
MORE ABOUT MoM: The Museum of Motherhood (MoM) is the first and only exhibition and education center devoted to the art, science and history of women, mothers and families inclusive of all reproductive identities. MOM is organized and activated by our community. We support evolving, interdisciplinary perspectives within the field of mother studies while working with partners around the world. The MOM Art Annex 501c3 non-profit serves as the incubator for increasing the footprint and impact of MoM in St. Petersburg, Florida. We celebrate the complexities and joys women and mothers as they take their rightful place in the museum world.
Please join us as we celebrate the power and resilience of mothers, others, and families embracing the complex web of interconnectedness that binds us all. Motherhood In Motion beckons visitors to explore, learn, and participate in new narratives that forge a collective future that embodies the values of education, compassion, and care for our planet and for each other.
We are especially pleased to highlight the works of Amy Wolf as our featured artist. Her ‘wearable artwork’ collection’s theme of “reincarnation/transmutation” is based on her practice of transforming found, reclaimed and ordinary materials into something unexpected. She has shown her work both locally and nationally since 2018 and was a 2023 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist grantee, as well as a 2021 emerging Florida CraftArt artist. In 2022, she was the recipient of both an individual artist grant from The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and a Gobioff Foundation microgrant. In addition to art exhibits, MoM will feature women in history, the science of motherhood, a discussion area, special programming, interactive exhibits, a film by founder Martha Joy Rose, sculptures by Sallie Hackett Brown, and a library as well as a vibrant store focused on MoM’s mission.
We have been working over the past few weeks to make the transition from our offices- where our permanent collection has lived for the last seven years at the MOM Art Annex to our new location at The Factory in the Warehouse District in St. Pete.
Only a mile from our current spot, heading south on 28th St., take a left at the decorative art pole on Fairfield Ave, and go a few hundred yards to a small parking area where a rainbow sidewalk appears. Walking through the double doors at 2622 Fairfield Ave., the Fairgrounds and Daddy Cool Records are on your left – then, to the right and up the ramp is the new Museum of Motherhood location! Whoo hoo.
This move signifies a huge leap for MoM in the state of Florida. As a woman-owned organization focused on art, community, culture, and education in a climate that holds so much potential, we aim to cultivate relationships based on inclusion, love, and empowerment. This means holding space that is both safe and welcoming.
We do our best, all the time.
We invite you to participate in this new grand experiment in St. Petersburg, Florida (and online), as the Museum of Motherhood explores women’s place and progress in Western society. Together, we will collectively develop new notions of what it means to grow and collaborate together while celebrating our shared legacy of birth, life, and death on this planet.
Join us in our unwavering journey to inform and inspire!
Welcome Please Our Newest Intern
Graziella Pierangeli s a senior English/Museum studies major at Bryn Mawr College. She is passionate about recognizing the academic and personal achievements of women throughout history. She has worked on projects highlighting the important work done by women scientists, on the role of motherhood in ancient Greek tragedies, and the unique perspective of lesbian authors. When she isn’t working at MoM, she can be found tutoring at the Bryn Mawr Writing Center, taking long walks around campus, or reading a science fiction novel. She is so excited to be included in the founding mothers project!
Hello friends- Happy July! I am sharing some wonderful news.
The Museum Of Motherhood is moving to The Factory in the warehouse district this August in St. Petersburg, Florida. From that new location we plan on executing quarterly exhibits. The first, which runs August 28-Oct., is titled ‘Motherhood On Motion’ curated by Liliana Beltran in collaboration with me, Martha Joy Rose.
Additionally we anticipate sharing aspects of our herstorical exhibitions permanently throughout the year, along with a compelling ‘Futurisms’ exhibit, interactive opportunities, and we will have a vibrant store onsite.
We are looking to work with partners who wish to create events within the space and are as excited by this new location as we are. Internships and residencies at the MOM Art Annex are ongoing.
On a personal note, as the museum founder and as a kidney transplant survivor, I have recently and unexpectedly come up against a physical impediment, which has been most inconvenient. I have been hospitalized with a bronchial infection- no doubt exacerbated by the Canadian fires and am currently in recovery which is why communication has been slow. It has been a long time since I have been brought this low by a physical limitation, and while I feel confident about moving forward, I anticipate another few weeks of recovery.
Lilliana, Beltran, curator, and I have been able to collaborate in terms of written curatorial statements and organizing art exhibitions, work that was begun over a month ago. I was able to ask a local artist to put signage up at the new location so second Saturday visitors this month would see our new spot (Thank you Paul Leroy), which is all good.
Because of this most recent development in my health, I am reaffirming the need once again for activate our Living Board. The Living Board is not a governing board but rather intended to keep MoM’s initiatives active and ongoing in the community even in the event of my unavailability. It is crushingly clear to me over the past several weeks the manner in which the blog has not gotten written, the newsletter has not gone out, the physical space which needs attending to has not been attended to, that every endeavor requires a team beyond the team, which means backup. The community-needs of MoM require local hands-on coordination. My ability to navigate on the phone amidst coughing fits has been impossible. To that end, I will re-initiate this community aspect when I return in August.
As we rapidly move towards our ‘soft opening’ date of August 28th, which is also the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March on Washington – MoM will work with The Factory Team to fashion a press release and make plans for the ‘official’ opening of Sept. 9th, Second Saturday Art Walk.
Artwork will begin going up during the first two weeks of August. For those of you who wish to help, volunteering time, posting social media, and circulating news of our new space – we appreciate all the help we can get. We aim to create a generous, supportive, and creative space. AEHK are invited to share their work- we can produce gift cards for the store for example- with any themes relating to embodiment, motherhood in motion, or procreative or feminist endeavors. People who are looking to get involved can write with their ideas, proposals, or just sign up for potential volunteer hours, etc., using this online form: https://mommuseum.org/volunteer-mom/
In the spirit of progress and purpose, we now also put ourselves in in the capable hands of our strategic advisors who have been diligently working towards crafting a compelling narrative for potential funders and donors and to Connie B for her work on Salesforce & Quickbooks bringing us ever closer to fiscal well being, accountability, and preparation for MoM’s next great leap forward. We enthusiastically thank everyone who has been part of MoM over the course of the past year or so.
We are grateful to Maggie Duffy & Leonora Anton of the Tampa Bay Times, our St Pete High School volunteers & local teachers, Jeff Herman and Creative Grape, Gloria, Munoz, and Tombolo Books, SpaceCraft, Marcile Powers, Maureen McDole of Keep St Pete Lit, Yes Chef Village, our mothers groups, Batya Weinbaum for her onsite mural work, social media manager Margot Pomeroy, Empowerment Coordinator Sierra Clark, Hannah Brockbank, Larry & Cathy Dillahunty Law, Paul LeRoy, Dwayne Shepard, Nick Ribera, Jim Woodfield, Liam and Kristen Lansing, Olga Bof and Localtopia, Historic Kenwood, Neighborhood Association, and Artist Enclave of Historic Kenwood, all those who donated towards the purchase of the Mother Tree, and everyone who toured MoM or took an interest in our initiatives as well as our new partners at The Factory!
MoM has acquired the Mother Tree for our permanent collection! Thanks to each of you who donated through our GoFundMe, our website, or by private contribution. Thanks too, artist Helen Hiebert, artist and creator for trusting us and for additional support. Thanks to all of you we have succeeded in achieving this wonderful milestone.
This purchase represents the culmination of two years of fundraising for our permanent collection and we couldn’t be more pleased to share this success with each of you. If you have been fortunate to have seen the Mother Tree at the MoM Art Annex or one of her other previous exhibitions spaces, lit up and beaming, then you join an exclusive group who have indeed been fortunate. Moving forward we look forward to future large scale exhibition spaces where we can share her for public display.
May has been an incredible month for forging new connections, completing projects, and travel. For those of you who have been keeping up with travel blog reports from founding director, Martha Joy Rose, travels to the Goddess temples of Malta have been transformational indeed. You can read more about the Goddess’s of Malta at our founder’s blog.
Throughout June, July, and August, operations will continue at the MoM Art Annex though outreach activities are paused. Our team will be busy strategizing a year’s worth of exhibits for our 2023-24 season which commences in September. During the summer, internships, grant writing, renovations, and curatorial activities will be in full swing.
Finally, we want to share news from our recent experience at the Modern Herbal Apothecary in Tampa for a ‘Closing the Bones Ceremony’. Lyani Powers, doula and owner of MHA presented at this year’s annual academic MoM Conference on ‘Maternal Landscapes’. This ritualistic ceremony can be traced to South America, Africa, and Asia, yet here in American this ritual is not common. Founder Joy Rose was graciously invited to Lyani’s studio post-conference.
During the conference,Lyani shared that she performed ‘Closing the Bones’ on her mother-in-law so it seemed the ceremony could work on new mothers as well as older mothers. Here at MoM we recognize the ways in which many women continue symbolically, and in real life, remain attached to grief, trauma, and even may stay stuck emotionally or become over-involved in their adult children’s lives. Could this be a way to honor those sacred bonds while allowing space for closure and release? We were hoping so.
Nestled into a residential neighborhood Lyani’s gorgeous space is stocked with teas, herbs, and scents that are both delicious and healing. The ceremony itself involved sage, touch, a holding of the body and swaying gently while being gently cradled. This was followed by a tight body- wrapping, a rest, and it concluded with a ceremonial tea and washing of the feet. There were low mutterings, incantations, and prayers for releasing old patterns and welcoming new energy and new ways of being.
This was all a marvelous closure to our founder’s extended trip to visit the Goddess Temples of Malta. The divine feminine has been with us and the world for at least five-thousand years BC. How do those threads get lost? How do the rituals that sustain us disappear? We must weave our way back in time together to activate the symbolic strength of women as respected and glorious members of society.
The Museum of Motherhood’s first online exhibition was in 2010. The launch featured a Sacred Feminine exhibit created Polly Wood online. Now, thirteen years later in 2023, Batya Weinbaum began work on the Goddess mural at the MOM Art Annex for her ‘Artist in Residency’ project. There is a lot of herstory in this world to be mapped – indeed, there is a link to all our shared legacies and experiences. We encourage you to do some research on ‘Closing of the Bones’ rituals. There is much to learn and much to celebrate if we can stay strong in our bonds to each other and continue to find ways to collaborate. Find our more at ModernHerbalApothocary.com or search ceremonies online. And, please, whatever you do, make sure to stay strong. You are beautiful!
Modern Herbal Apothecary
Herbal Tea Time
Delicious
The wrapping prep
Sage and Conversation
Lyani Leads
The Bone Closing Ceremony
Lyani Powers, Doula and Owner MHA
Flower Foot Bath
Mushroom Walls
The Closing of the Bones Ceremony brought a SONG to mind and is summed up well here:
I can’t really explain it I haven’t got the words It’s a feeling that you can’t control I suppose its like forgetting Losing who you are And at the same time Something makes you whole Its like that there’s a music Playing in your ear And I’m listening, and I’m listening And then I disappear (Lyrics from the song Electric- Billy Elliot, the musical )
It is so easy to lose focus and lose the light, especially when the weight of responsibility, finances, health, and housing carry such inordinate heaviness. Everyday life is feels so complicated. We slog along with a mountain of problems. How can we feel joyous? How can a museum make a difference?
First the good news: Life on earth has always been a challenge. In fact, a LOT of the time LIFE IS HARD. But, each of us has a spark inside. A little bit of light channeled from the solar system of which we are a part. That illumination is what makes each of us incredibly special. Here at MoM, we focus on the light. In fact our motto is informing and inspiring lives. We do that even as we acknowledge all of the issues and challenges facing individuals thinking about becoming parents and as we attempt to reconcile past difficulties with a transformed present.
How do we do that? Every person who steps into our museum experience has an opportunity to discover something amazing about themselves. We sit at the intersection of an enormous energetic infrastructure that connects the past, present, and future of women, mothers, and families. We pride ourselves on a commitment to art, culture, science, history, and activism. We are absolutely devoted to a legacy project that includes all of us. M/otherhood never ends. We are all part of the great cycle. Please join us as we grow together!
We have THREE IMPORTANT INITIATIVES THIS MONTH!
Invite 300 new MoM Members to Join Us: $30 a year – we will mail you a welcome packet with our friendship bracelets and a code for events with special access to exclusive online content. [CLICK]
Join our MOM Directory to share your business, organization, or service with the world! [CLICK]
Help us finalize our purchase of the Mother Tree sculpture. We are so close! Only $4,000 dollars left to go, then we can add her to our forever collection. Donate now, please. [CLICK]
*Sign up in May for a special photography session locally in St. Pete from St.JeanCreative and they will donate 10% back to the MOM Art Annex 501c3 non-profit. [CLICK]
We will announce the winners of the ‘About My Mother’ writing contest in time for Mothers’ Day! Look for a special blog about that!
Spring has sprung! But first, ‘About My Mother:’ Submit your poem or short story about your mother by April 30th for a Mothers’ Day publication with MoM on our Blog, Newsletter and Social Media. Submit via word document, 1,000-2,000 words for the short story/essay. Poems of any length. First prize is $50 for the story. Poem is $25 and the runner up gets love and publication too. Share widely, just one week left! Send to: INFO@MOMmuseum.org
Thank You Authentic Florida for including us on your website as we approach May (Mothers’ Month). MoM is working hard to increase memberships – 300 in the next 3 months! See our special offer and JOIN OUR FLOCK! We are grateful to work with Melanie Lentz-Janney at Authentic Florida towards this mutual goal of sharing information and cool stuff to do in the Sunshine State. Authentic Florida.
Welcome New MoM Facilitator Sierra Clark
Welcome Sierra Clark our new Empowerment Facilitator at MoM. Her workshop designs- based on her chapter “From Sweet Nothings to Sweet Everything” in Repair Of The Black Family as part of the edited collection by Nayyirah Muhammad- are transformational. We are all better for her leadership and strong voice! More about Sierra at www.sierraclark.life
INTERNS
April has us bustling with a new group of amazing interns from around the world. Please welcome these amazing international collaborators (from left to right):
Audrey Paquet-Frey: My name is Audrey Paquet-Frey, I’m a 32-year-old Master’s degree student from the TEMA+ program 2021-2023, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree program. I am currently in Paris at the EHESS completing my degree. Prior to this program, I did a bachelor’s degree at the Université Laval in Canada, Québec in historical sciences and heritage studies in museology, ethnology, and archeology. During my studies, I worked at the Canadian museum of history from 2015 until 2020, where I worked in the photographic archives divisions and the documentation of artefacts divisions. So why am I doing an internship at the Mom Museum? Simply because in the last years I’ve developed an interest in museum communities and especially now with the new museum definition from ICOM (International Councils of Museums) redirecting their attention to communities and the public, I felt it was time to explore that avenue. After this Master’s, I hope to be able to create an online museum directed at and for different communities of women to empower them through their immaterial heritage and their collective memory. I would like to give a voice to different communities of women through online exhibits. I hope to learn a lot from this internship and to be able to apply it to my future projects.
Megan Hsu: I will be assisting MoM with identfying, researching, and applying for local or national grants in order to assist with fundraising efforts that can further assist MoM in being able to achieve its goals and create deeper connections with the local community. A native of Tampa, FL, Megan (she/her) is in her final year at the University of Florida, where she is pursuing a double major in International Studies and Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics along with a minor in European Union studies. A lifelong student, she believes that education never ends and is always eager to learn more about the world around her. She has worked with non-profit organizations in the past and is excited to devote her skills to MoM and its mission of educating and celebrating women and mothers of all reproductive identities.
Clea Dobrish: I am Clea Dobrish, a junior at Eckerd College studying Sociology and Women and Gender Studies. Especially with the political climate, it is more important than ever to join together and educate ourselves and others about feminism and gender studies, this is my main goal through this internship. Working with the EC Feminist club on campus has ignited a passion in me to further my education on the matter as well as helped me find my calling in helping people desexualize and accept how amazing their bodies are through the events done on campus. I hope to bridge the gap between Eckerd and MoM by helping others get internships here and collaborating with the feminist club. I also hope to learn about and assist with grant writing for MoM.
REMOTE RESIDENCY AT MoM
Yes, it is possible to do a Remote Residency at MoM. It’s also possible to have a remote internship at MoM as well! Apply through our website on the appropriate page, work with your institution, and make progress on your project through interactions with the Museum of Motherhood and Director, Martha Joy Rose.
Christina Doonan PhD: is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Gender Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her research interests include the politics of health, human rights, the right to health, and motherhood and parenting in the context of chronic illness.
My current project, “Mothering Through Cancer,” explores how breast cancer affects motherhood for mothers of young children, and how mothering young children affects the experience of cancer. Taking my own experience as a starting point, I am interested in how idealized versions of motherhood work in both directions, influencing what mothers expect of themselves as they experience cancer and what others expect of mothers—and how this translates into the types of supports that mothers receive (or not).I first presented a portion of this work at the M.O.M. Conference in 2022: “Creativity for a Cause.”I felt invigorated by the supportive feedback I received from the M.O.M. community.Staying in touch with the project has been difficult given the dual demands of work and reproductive labour.My residency with M.O.M. this week allows me to reconnect with and refocus on this project and give it the time that it deserves. Thank you to Joy and Tracy for arranging the details and for welcoming me so warmly. I’m grateful and delighted to be here as part of this vital community! (Christina is pictured about with her husband Lincoln and MoM Director, Martha Joy Rose).
M.A.M.A.Procreate Project, the Museum of Motherhood and the Mom Egg Review are pleased to announce the 54th edition of this scholarly discourse. Literature intersects with art to explore the wonder and the challenges of motherhood. Using words and art to connect new pathways between the academic, the para-academic, the digital and the real, as well as the everyday: wherever you live, work and play, the Art of Motherhood is made manifest. #JoinMAMA #artandmotherhood #mama
Introducing: Mathilde Jansen
Bio: Mathilde Jansen hails from Deventer (at the IJssel river valley), in the Netherlands. She graduated from the Royal Academy, The Hague (KABK) in 2006. Dar es Salaam has been a second home and source of inspiration. In 2016 she completed the postgraduate studies Education in Arts (Beroepskunstenaar in de Klas) at the Amsterdam School of the Arts. Her primary photographic practice seeks the universal value of natural resources and minerals as a means of tracing the complex relationship between people and the global economy. She aims to create new perspectives from which to examine social structures and the connections between the local and global, which, for Jansen, form the basis of human attitudes, social positioning and intercultural communication. In her practice Jansen consciously interweaves market-driven ways of thinking with an integrated holistic vision of nature, teasing out the borders between the two. Using experiments in analog photography, incorporating awe-inspiring constructions on location and manipulating medium format negatives, she creates a dynamic interplay between subject matter and representation, navigating areas as diverse and all-encompassing as nature and ecology, spirit, and community. Jansen envisions trees and organic structures being planted and preserved in urban spaces, gardens, national parks or anywhere – on a micro or macro level. Her current Landscape projects represent this interplay and interaction between modernization, wilderness and consciousness. [Web Link]
How does motherhood, reproductive identity, or experience inform your work?
Through my recent Landscape projects such as Potential Landscapes, I’ve escaped from the limitations that single motherhood has put onto my life (as a former full-time art and freelance photographer). I was a fully single mom, without a co-parent or similar support, from 2011-2019. All of a sudden, I couldn’t easily travel for an art project, even freelance work in short term or in the evening was hard to undertake. With my Dutch-Tanzanian daughter Daleila, I’ve enjoyed a great time, but the stress and urgency of side jobs, distracted my mind and made me focus too much on external and organizational matters instead of the essence of my life and purpose: what do I feel, need, love and desire (to share in the community)?
To my surprise, I’ve witnessed that people often prefer to judge rather than to offer support. As if my vulnerability triggered hidden fears in people, to stand alone. It takes courage to listen openly. I’ve felt connected to the continent during my time of single motherhood; I had to give up privileges, heal my romantic heart, get used to a more basic lifestyle and nurture my family with resilience. It made me grateful from within.
There came a turning point after meditating as a daily part of my self-care. This restored a creative flow of ideas and palpable steps in my day-to-day life. My resistance against my living circumstances transformed into acceptance and surrender. I truly enjoyed my life with my daughter and allowed any lovely outcome. Besides that, I started to experiment with a technique, to manipulate my medium format nature (and portrait) photo-negatives with ink and organic substances, creating a new type of art photography from my home.
I’d like to highlight the power of neural networks and emotional connection, to expand inner space and outer or creative productivity. Which shifts the focus to the quality of relationships and inner connectedness, as a desired condition for reproduction, also in the form of raising a loving or healthy family.
Reproduction should ideally be a result of mutual interconnectedness in any way. It’s not a goal in itself, to me. Sharing a way of life which supports happy childhoods should be key. So (step)parenting is then a result of love, a responsible task for life and a desire for personal and communal growth, worthy of various forms of support or caring networks. I’d love to call this trans-parenting. There may be no doubt that all people are worthy of love and love-supporting rules and laws, if we can allow society to level up.
As a mother in a family of five (our 3rd child will be born in ’23) I am pro diversity and pro taking social responsibility by free will. Truthful and co-creative connections are my primal desire. Sharing a commitment with my partner, enables me to open up deeply and show my vulnerabilities and powers. Including my biological power to give life to new people born.
Women and men need evolving and daring relationships. I don’t want to exclude men or avoid male structures, instead I’m set to find new structures, regardless origin (or species), which are open to collaborate with (my) feminine and other energies. So we as people can flow in better directions.
Domestic Goddess
Ego Management – Mathilde Jansen (Domestic Goddess Series 2018)
Sink – Mathilde Jansen (Domestic Goddess Series 2018)
Connectivity – Mathilde Jansen (Domestic Goddess Series 2018)
Embrace – Mathilde Jansen (Domestic Goddess Series 2018)
In this series I’ve re-shaped my conditioned mind as a (by that time) single working mum, within the domain of my home as a studio.
My role as an artist is entangled with my household and that of a mother and woman. Am I seeing through the fabric of a curtain, or am I hidden behind it? Cleaning, dancing, resting and organizing at home feels as natural to me, as a walk in the forest. It connects me to my heart, body and mind, where intention, dust, touch, move and scents co-exist in an emotional space with walls, doors, closets and transparent windows. As a (former) single mum, our house started to become a spiritual cube to me. It is were we’ve survived and learned to surrender and thrive, from within.
By exploring my natural connection to my home as an extension of Earth and its resources, I’m letting go of old patriarchal structures in which feminine senses and intuitive powers have been dominated or exploited (for the benefits of a power system). In fact I’ve talked to my shower and been drinking water as if coming from a well or source.
In the history of the Netherlands, a natural or spiritual connection to nature has been repressed by the institutional Church for centuries, whilst supporting economical activities and slave trade of the State overseas. A lack of sensual and free emotional expression has caused abuse of (so called) exotic women or even children, without a mutual equal connection.
Nowadays, people tend to project a wild inner nature on (trans)gender diversity. Yet heterosexual mothers often remain ignored or invisible, because the debate about reproduction focuses on a lineair and statistic point of view, rather as the contagious power of love as a reproductive energy. And relationships built on free will and a symbiotic harmony.
Natural forces have first been rediscovered at home, to affect social and economical domains as well. It’s a subtle and playfully provoking process. Poet and Jungian psychoanalytic Clarissa Pinkola Estés describes myths and stories in ‘Women who run with the wolves’.
Domestic Goddess plays with various interpretations of ‘the female archetype’ vocabulary. For people from western or market oriented countries this title might refer to a fantasy world or socially submissive status, defining the role of a woman or tasks in a household in a more less static way. Whereas in various cultures and beliefs a ‘family’ spirit is associated with social integrity or emotional responsivity and implements these qualities on a professional level as well. Nevertheless, this series isn’t about left or right, but about exploring the subconscious and act from that source in daily reality, within your community and living material surroundings too.
Mothership, part 1: Symbioscenes
Symbioscenes Mathilde Jansen Mothership 2023
Symbioscenes Mathilde Jansen Mothership 2023
Symbioscenes Mathilde Jansen Mothership 2023
Symbioscenes Mathilde Jansen Mothership 2023
Mothership, part 1: Symbioscenes
“As the symbiotic interconnections come back into the soil, the ecosystem, and the macrobiomes, the neural and emotional connections return to the psyche to a form of health. What is new in this field is the discovery that many of the foundational forces are invisible to us. We were simply ignorant of them. … The fact that, for the bulk of our time on this Earth, humans have not had to analyze or even be conscious of our positive relationships to the Earth accounts to some extent for our not naming or recording them in the languages that have coalesced to become the English language. They were taken for granted when the world gave generously and continuously of these connections. As the Anthropocene has peeled away the protective layers that held our positive Earth emotions in place, we have come to appreciate and value their role in our psychic health. I have illustrated this loss with my own example of witnessing the destruction of endemism and my endemic sense of place in Western Australia.”
– Eco philosopherGlenn A. Albrecht (Earth Emotions, page 194-195)
Through the container project Mothership, I’m exploring how to navigate in my working and family life, pregnancy and motherhood, while evolving a conscious relationship with the Earth as a symbiosis. My first analogue photographs of a happening at the beach, Symbioscenes, will take part of a multimedia video work which is in progress, as the start of my artist residency in Motherhood, with the long term project Mothership.
Our consciousness is rooted in the soil (under our feet) and skies (beyond our control). What is the message of inner voices that we construct and perceive our reality from? I’ll edit unique audio fragments to play with daily, social structures and invisible powers. Such as eye opening fragments of my grandmother’s diary, which I got after she passed away.
Mothership intertwines female family lines and a psychological connectedness within a natural environment. I’ll visually explore the relationship between my (sub)consciousness and the way my body is one with nature. The project forms a dialogue between my changing life, body and emotional system, but also seeks for new meaning within a collective consciousness. To find a dynamic and valuable truth which is solid enough to be able to build upon the concept of a symbiocene, a term by Glenn Albrecht.
WORDS
Lisa DeSiro is the author of Labor (Nixes Mate, 2018) and Grief Dreams (White Knuckle Press, 2017). Her poetry is featured in various anthologies and journals, and has been set to music by several composers. Lisa is employed as the Production & Editorial Assistant for a non-profit organization; in addition, she is an editor for Indolent Books and a freelance accompanist. Read more about her at thepoetpianist.com.
This is our final countdown to the Mother Tree Fundraiser in 2022. As of now, we are over halfway to our goal of purchasing this one-of-a-kind artwork from world-renowned paper-maker Helen Hiebert, on loan to MoM until June 2023. We have raised $13,300 towards the purchase price of $25,000. That means only $11,700 left to go! Won’t you help us clinch the deal? The Mother Tree is a seven-foot high handmade sculpture installation featuring single strands of thread which have been crocheted by over 400 participants around the world. Helen is an internationally acclaimed artist, author and educator. The Mother Tree is currently onsite at the MOM Art Annex. She is impactful, lovely, and represents the connection we have to the earth, our families, and our community. Any amount, no matter how small, helps us to secure her for our permanent collection. Your name will be added to the webpage and also onsite at MoM. You can write a check, donate through Paypal or go through our GoFundMe. We thank YOU!
Read on to see all our successes in 2022 and see what we hope to achieve in 2023.
This year we commenced with BIG goals at MoM. In addition to branded content, thanks to our summer interns, we revamped our mission statement to maximize inclusivity while staying true to our goals of elaborating on the art, science, and herstory of m/others.
We recommitted to serving up visible, educational, and inspiring offerings by conducting onsite tours on a regular basis. These tours oftentimes included children. We added to our collections and exhibits, built a vestibule to better enable visitors to view our interior space regardless of pandemics, and held postpartum groups and mothers’ playdates in our garden.
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New team members came on board. Specifically, we welcomed legal advice from local lawyer Larry Dillahunty, and are most pleased to be working with Deborah Gelch in the position of Strategic Advisor, Elena Rodz in website development, Marcile Powers as Arts Facilitator, and Connie Burgess as our new Membership Director and Community Laison.
We continued with our Residencies both remote and onsite, as well as our internship program, adding four new interns poised to start work in the new year. Our international relationship with MAMA collaborators continued, bringing online art exhibits from around the world.
We heartily thank the neighborhood of Historic Kenwood and the Artist Enclave for their great work on the Studio Tour as well as Winter in the Woods, and Bohemia Night at (Kenwood Gables) which MoM participated in, and also want to shout out to SPACEcraft for including us in their latest round of installations in St. Pete, and St. Pete High School for inviting MoM to present at the Art & Feminist Club.
One piece of big news is that our director, Martha Joy Rose took up permanent residence in Florida this year, relinquishing her NY-based teaching job at Manhattan College and further cementing her commitment to MoM locally in St. Petersburg.
We thank you Living Board 2022, Zabrina Shkurti, Nicole Musselman, and two-term Residency Coordinator Tracy Sidesinger. The Annual MoM Conference and the Journal of Mother Studies (JourMS) are ongoing with this year’s hybrid conference scheduled for March 24-26. (Join us online or in person).
This year, we wrote two grants: one was denied and we are waiting to hear on the second one. We received one anonymous foundation award in the amount of $1,000, and we thank all our new members and donors! While our needs are great, as is the case with many non-profits, we have persevered through geographic moves, personnel changes, pandemics, and great and we have SURVIVED and THRIVED!
MoM belongs to you – the public, our members, and our community. Please consider getting involved or making a donation today. Use our donation link or checks can be sent to 538 28th St. N St Petersburg, Florida 33713. Help us GROW!
