WOW MOM Art Opening

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.