Towards a Language of Interruption

This Masters research paper is an attempt to begin to articulate and document my lived experience of being both a mother and an artist. Underpinned by research into the cultural and social history of the experience of mothering and the cultural institution of motherhood , I revisit and reinterpret some of my earlier works, and explore issues of identity brought up by the relational experience of mothering. I seek out other women who are, or have been, both mothers and artists particularly sculptors and whose work relates to their subjective experiences of mothering. From them I select and investigate both works, and reflections, which I feel resonate with my own experience. Against this background I describe and interpret the body of work completed during my Masters candidacy, drawn from my subjective experience of becoming, and being, a mother whilst continuing my artistic practice.

Autorentext

Born in Lancashire, U.K. in 1965, sculptor Helen Sturgess now lives and works in Sydney, Australia. She completed her Masters in Sculpture, Performance and Installation in 2008 at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, and has exhibited in Australia and internationally.