New Motherhood can be a lonely and isolating time in a modern, nomadic world. The people we expect to be there for us may not be, and people we never expected to, may show up. It’s disconcerting.
I created this piece for an exhibition called ‘The Mother Hood,’ about motherhood and community. When I had my first child, I didn’t have a village at all. I felt lonely, helpless and unworthy to care for my small child.
Retrospectively, I see now that by sharing my struggles (represented by the embroidered tears) I was able to connect to and cultivate my own little village of support (represented by the flowers).
Each of the flowers and plant have significance. The leaves are mother-in-laws tongue, roses symbolise the purity of motherhood, sunflowers are for dedication adoration and love, gerbras are for fertility, beauty, childbirth and motherhood, the white daisy is for innocence and new beginnings, Larkspur are for positivity, strength and love, they are all surrounded by little forget-me-nots.
The mother has a butterfly tattoo because she’s been transformed into a new stage of life as she moves from maiden to mother.