An Artist and A Mother





Price: $69.95

Page Count: 328

Publication Date: April 2023

ISBN: 978-1-77258-428-8

An Artist and a Mother is a book of visual artworks and essays that speak to the diverse ways artists balance creative life with the demands of mothering. It includes thirty seven essays describing the work of thirty-nine international artists and an art collective, as well as a resource guide with books, journals, magazines, organizations, and other resources. This book seeks to highlight the growing body of artist mothers who are making visually and conceptually interesting artwork not just despite their status as mothers, but often because of the inspiration and challenges that come with motherhood.

An Artist and A Mother provides an intersectional feminist look at artist mothers, rooted in academic well-cited writing while honoring personal narrative and poetic writing. It’s refreshing to shift between longer-form essays, personal narratives, and poetry, interspersed with abundant artwork images. Hearing so many perspectives and experiences of mothering while making art was very affirming.

- Rebecca Potts, Teaching Artist Podcast

This illustrated book of short essays reveal a dimension of the feminine, maternal experience that is often invisible. These poignant stories of artists and their experiences as mothers are varied and vivid. A wide variety of artistry represented, from paintings, to textiles, to photography, to sculpture, to performance. This topic is significant within the context of feminist theory, art education, and the support of families and children.

- Dr. Mark Graham, Professor, Art Education, Brigham Young University

1. Curatorial Statement Tara Carpenter Estrada, Heidi Moller Somsen, & Kaylan Buteyn
1. taracarpenter@byu.edu
2. heidi.somsen@gmail.com
3. kaylan@kaylancreates.com
2. Bear Up, Bring Forth and Deliver Heidi Moller Somsen heidi.somsen@gmail.com
3. Channeling Loneliness and Isolation into Community and Connection Kaylan Buteyn kaylan@kaylancreates.com
4. An Artist-Mother in Academia Tara Carpenter Estrada taracarpenter@byu.edu
5. Ma—Reframing the Representation of the Maternal Subject in the (Negative) Space of (M)otherhood Sally Butcher info@sallybutcher.com
6. Beast of Burden Sandeep Johal sandeepjohal.art@gmail.com
7. Crossing the Bridge Beth Krensky beth.krensky@utah.edu
8. Mother Tongue and Baby Talk Shin Hee Chin shinheec@tabor.edu
9. Profound Dualism Susanne du Toit susannedt@hotmail.com
10. Collective Art Production as a Tool for Radical Self-Care Magdalena Kallenberger mkallenberger@googlemail.com, maternalfantasies@googlemail.com
11. Reappearance Katherine Duclos katherine.duclos@gmail.com
12. The Photographer as a Mother as an Artist Dawn Yow mynameisdawnyow@gmail.com
13. No Way Out But Through Jessica Kitzman xylem.artist@gmail.com
14. The Miserable Mother: A Silent Earthquake Helen Sargeant helen_sargeant@hotmail.com
15. Anxiety as a Catalyst Ruchika Wason Singh ruchikawsingh@gmail.com
16. Jann Haworth and Liberty Blake: A Work in Progress Janalee Emmer janalee_emmer@byu.edu
17. Independent Variables Sara Lindsay saralynnelindsay@gmail.com
18. Portrait of an Artist Mother Lee Nowell-Wilson leenowellwilson@gmail.com
19. Pursuing Passion and Profit Lindsay Johnson mrs.lindsay.johnson@gmail.com
20. Time Without End Paola Bidinelli paolabidinelli@gmail.com
21. Performing the Mother as an Artist Claudia Pharès missclaudiaphares@gmail.com
22. M o t h e r l o a d Teresa Dunn tdunn28@msu.edu
23. Between Dark and Dawn Lianne Milton lianne.milton@gmail.com
24. Making for Fleeting Control Jennifer Combe Jennifer.Combe@mso.umt.edu
25. Paradigm Shifts in Printmaking and Parenting: Laura Crehuet Berman Eleanor Lim-Midyettelim-midyett@kcai.edu
26. This Was Not the Plan Mya Cluff myacluff@gmail.com
27. To Have and to Hold Sarah Sudhoff sarahsudhoff@gmail.com
28. Mother, Mindset, Matrix: Subjectivity and the Value of Artist-Mothers Melanie Allred melaniekallred@gmail.com
29. Pushing Back Amy J. Dyck amyjdyckstudios@gmail.com
30. A Conflict of Interests Lauren McLaughlin laurenmclaughlin.artist@gmail.com
31. Desperate Artwives: The Quest for Representation and Inclusion in Contemporary Art Practice Amy Dignam amyf.dignam@googlemail.com
32. The Advantages of Being a Mother Artist Laura Godfrey Isaacs laura.godfreyisaacs@gmail.com
33. Representations of Motherhood in Contemporary Art Celia Rocha celiarochastudio@gmail.com
34. 132 Months Kath Lovett kath_lovett@yahoo.co.uk
35. In Full Colour: Clare Yow Tenley Norton Brady callme10ley@gmail.com
36. Things Unsaid Erin McCluskey Wheeler erinmccluskeywheeler@gmail.com
37. An Encounter with Maternal Materiality: Cathy Wilkes and the Green Dress Paula Chambers paula.chambers@leeds-art.ac.uk
38. Good Enough. Melissa Maddoni Haims inquiry@mmhaims.com
39. Resources taracarpenter@byu.edu
40. About the Contributors taracarpenter@byu.edu

Tara Carpenter Estrada is an associate professor of art education at Brigham Young University. Her ceramic and mixed-media work explores feminism, domesticity, and relationship. Her writings have been featured in journals that include Visual Inquiry and Art Education. She has presented at the National Art Education Association Convention and the International Society for Education through the Arts Conference. Estrada is the director of Jumpst(ART), a series of community art workshops for K-12 students.

Heidi Moller Somsen received an MFA in studio art from the University of Utah (2011). She has been included in: 500 Figures in Clay, Volume 2, Utah Art Utah Artists: 150 Year Survey, and Utah Painting and Sculpture. She teaches at the Waterford School. Although known for her evocative ceramic figures, Somsen experiments with a wide variety of materials and processes. Common themes in her work include anxiety, feminist theology and myth, healing and erosion.

Kaylan Buteyn is an artist, curator, founder of the Artist/Mother Podcast and founder of Stay Home Gallery & Residency. Her practice focuses on female empowerment, the maternal experience, and community engagement. In 2019, as a social extension of her art practice, Buteyn started the Artist/Mother Podcast, sharing interviews of working artists who are mothers. In 2020 she co-founded Stay Home Gallery with Pam Taylor, which is now a brick and mortar gallery and artist residency space.