Portrait Of An Artist And Her Mother
Portrait of An Artist And Her Mother, 1978
6" x 9", Limited edition of 23
Satin, Letterpress, Silver-prints
Portrait of an Artist and her Mother chronicles the politics of mother/daughter relationships through a photographically represented comparison - body part by body part- of the artist and her mother.
Through a series of documentary photographs Grant invites the viewer to examine and contemplate the subtle changes, both physical and emotional, that relationships and bodies endure over time. There are astonishing similarities and differences in the images.
Straight-forward yet sympathetic visual documentation is preceded by stream-of-consciousness texts printed letterpress on pristine white pages. The text contains random thoughts and memories.
Portrait of An Artist and her Mother consists of five text pages followed by a series of fourteen 2" square black and white contact silver-prints. The images for both mother and daughter appear on the same page, separated only by a black frame.
Grant employs the frame to allude to the boundary between generations. The barrier also refers to obstacles to be overcome, or overlooked, on the way to achieving generational understanding and acceptance.
Padded and bound in red satin, Portrait Of An Artist and Her Mother is fashioned after a baby book. Color, text and image create an emotional response and direct attention to specific relationship patterns between mother and daughter. At the same time, the book creates a universal framework for the examination of similar struggles between all mothers and daughters.
Acquisitions: Contact Conduit Gallery
Exhibitions: Contact Susan kae Grant