Ashley Walter
Mothering and COVID-19: Narratives of Pandemic Life as Art
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am an artist and arts educator currently based in Thunder Bay who uses various media to explore and address larger issues such as power relations and systemic barriers, as well as other social and political concerns that our communities are now navigating. My art practice offers a critical look at social positions, particularly those experiencing cultural disenfranchisement and considers intersecting perspectives - most recently in response to COVID-19.
For my most recent work, I interviewed seven mothers with one or more children under 12 years old. When the project began, my child was two years old, and after a significant amount of time not creating, I suddenly felt compelled to share my personal narrative through visual works of art. Objects, provided by participants, drive and inform these most recent works and are often incorporated into the piece. Using an object from another person is meant to bridge the work of art and the viewer, offering a new
perspective on everyday, mundane items as vehicles for storytelling.
ABSTRACT
This solo exhibition by local artist and arts educator Ashley Walter addresses mothers' experiences and motherhood during COVID-19 through an art-as-research approach. I chose this content based on my own life experience with unpaid labour and anecdotal stories of my peers. Participants were recruited and interviewed to provide narratives of lived experience and contributed a personal item which was used in the art-making
process. The mediums include drawing, found object and other mixed media, sculpture, and printmaking. The work intends to aesthetically express the themes such as carrying the household mental load and anger - topics shared in the interviews and to disseminate mothers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic to a wider audience. Mothering and COVID-19: Narratives of Pandemic Life as Art aims to offer snapshots of women's lives as they learned to navigate domestic challenges in the “new normal” pandemic landscape. The exhibition offers qualitative evidence through art as social education to enrich our understanding of mothers' experiences during COVID-19.
Mothering and COVID-19: Narratives of Pandemic Life as Art
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am an artist and arts educator currently based in Thunder Bay who uses various media to explore and address larger issues such as power relations and systemic barriers, as well as other social and political concerns that our communities are now navigating. My art practice offers a critical look at social positions, particularly those experiencing cultural disenfranchisement and considers intersecting perspectives - most recently in response to COVID-19.
For my most recent work, I interviewed seven mothers with one or more children under 12 years old. When the project began, my child was two years old, and after a significant amount of time not creating, I suddenly felt compelled to share my personal narrative through visual works of art. Objects, provided by participants, drive and inform these most recent works and are often incorporated into the piece. Using an object from another person is meant to bridge the work of art and the viewer, offering a new
perspective on everyday, mundane items as vehicles for storytelling.
ABSTRACT
This solo exhibition by local artist and arts educator Ashley Walter addresses mothers' experiences and motherhood during COVID-19 through an art-as-research approach. I chose this content based on my own life experience with unpaid labour and anecdotal stories of my peers. Participants were recruited and interviewed to provide narratives of lived experience and contributed a personal item which was used in the art-making
process. The mediums include drawing, found object and other mixed media, sculpture, and printmaking. The work intends to aesthetically express the themes such as carrying the household mental load and anger - topics shared in the interviews and to disseminate mothers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic to a wider audience. Mothering and COVID-19: Narratives of Pandemic Life as Art aims to offer snapshots of women's lives as they learned to navigate domestic challenges in the “new normal” pandemic landscape. The exhibition offers qualitative evidence through art as social education to enrich our understanding of mothers' experiences during COVID-19.
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