Imagine a diagram consisting of two large and slightly overlapping circles. The whole is labeled mothering. Each circle is labeled, the left circle reads care and the right maintenance. The central space created by the two shapes is vacant. There is no label or descriptor. This defined but undefined space, is the origin of my concepts, it is also the space where my forms are derived from. It is populated by actions and activities necessary for maintaining spatial and relational order within and around the family unit and its environments.

I am materially practical and formally ambitious. I live and work in a way that reflects maternal giving and generosity of care. I value individual experiences and what they provide for the collective. I rely on stories and narratives beyond my own for research, and think about qualitative data and quantitative meaning.

The foundational subjects of my work are women, care, maintenance, power, gender roles and power dynamics within domestic spaces and familial units. I consider traditions, the everyday, rituals, spirituality, and human/object relationships within the domestic space where most commonly women labor and mediate family dynamics. I use materials that are receptive to energy and shaping, as well as those which are utilitarian, readymade, packed with their own emotions and sociocultural memories. The objects, actions, and stories of the domestic world set the stage for my work and my methods explore the labor generated through repetitive activity and gesture. The work holds the private sector of the home with reverence, re-configuring the domestic space to become a place of power and surrender, textured by its provisions and depletions.

melaniechamilton@gmail.com /// @cindysusan