To begin, I researched artists or artwork in general that dealt with mother and child or pregnant women. There were a lot of pieces that used a tree and seed metaphor to explain the connection between mother and child. I kept searching, finding the same concept, and even made some preliminary drawings of pregnant women in a natural or tree-like color scheme to explore that theme. I was not happy with what I was doing, so I started over by taking mothers and children out of the picture and thinking about connectivity, what does it mean, how to we see it in our daily lives, etc.
In my public relations and advertising classes, we study A LOT about audiences and connectivity. We have to make digital marketing strategy plans or advertising campaigns that address a specific audience and come up with concepts that can be implemented in various forms within a company. We make maps to show how our content is connected, who we are reaching, and where everything is located. I think of connectivity on a regular basis in that way, a very digital way. It was then that I got the idea to represent the connection between mother and child in a digital or technological way.
I found it difficult to get all of my thoughts onto my drawing because of the strict requirements for this assignment. The piece had to be large, include collage, and include the inside of a body. I felt like a had a million ideas, but they didn't meet all of the requirements. That frustrated me. Perhaps I'll go back and create my other ideas another day. However, I did ultimately come up with a layout and plan. I decided to make linear and somewhat obscure sketches of pregnant women. I researched the work of Egon Schiele and liked his line work as well as his strange and obscure characters. To meet the collage and inside of the body requirement, I showed an inside view of the bellies of the mothers and completely removed them from the original paper so that they were their own entities. Later, I came in and connected the bodies of the mothers and the bodies of the babies with circuit board-like lines and designs. I chose to use a circuit board design because it is technological and by definition, it
mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is arguably one of the most vital pieces in the creation of computers, phones, and other major pieces of technology because of its ability to connect one thing with another. In the same way, the connection between a mother and her child in the womb during pregnancy is one of the most vital times in a child and mother's life.
I decided to draw multiple bodies because I also wanted to emphasize the connectivity between pregnant mothers and women. Pregnancy (at this point) is something only a woman can experience and I find that to be something very beautiful and empowering. While the government might take away our rights and control our bodies at times, we as women still have this strength and ability that the patriarchy can't take away. The bodies in my pieces are not directly connected like the children are to their mothers, but they do overlap and exist within the same very intimate space. These bodies also do not have faces because I wanted to keep it ambiguous and relatable.
The color choices were very important to this piece as well. I decided to use two very different kinds of colors. I wanted to represent the circuit board-like line work in a metallic color that would stand out and give a digital vibe. However, I wanted to reinforce the "natural" aspect of the connection by implementing natural colors like tan and brown. The shades of brown to me represent natural substances like wood, dirt, skin color, etc.
I was challenged by this project, but ultimately I am proud of it to a certain extent and enjoyed exploring this topic and am considering implementing it into my final series. I think pregnant bodies are something we could address more in the art world and though I am not pregnant or never have been pregnant, I feel a connection with the topic and might want to explore it further.
References:
Artist - Leonardo DiVinci
Artist - Egon Schiele
Line Art Article
Prenatal Connection Article
Scientists Discover Children’s Cells Living in Mothers’ Brains Article
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