My work has become increasingly more personal from project to project, with this being my most recent project. Here we can see a triptych focused around motherhood, and more specifically the role that my own mother had in my life. The progression of the mother figure throughout these drawings shows how she begins the cycle in the “traditional” position of motherhood, holding her baby lovingly despite her own anguish. This pain can be seen spreading to the child, the marks and handprints of abuse and experiences slowly building, until the mother is gone and only the painful marks remain. This represents my experience with my mother, where as a mother typically protects and nurtures, mine normalized abuse in my life and left scars on my mind that I now carry into adulthood.
Mother’s Touch, 2023. Black and white charcoal on red stained paper. Three pieces at 56″ x 36″.
Mother’s Touch hanging in FIU’s Viertes Haus Gallery.
Images of the individual drawings.
Detail shots of Mother’s Touch.
Mother’s Touch hanging in FIU’s Viertes Haus Gallery.
Alexis McKinnon 