An exhibition by Jen Donnery at Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise | 9 October - December 2020
Film and edit by Nick Anton
Mater Materia
…questions the persistent belief that a “good” artist must be entirely devoted to their practice; that a “good” mother must give herself to the act of raising her children, and that one role excludes the other. Informed by my own motherhood, the intention of this body of work is to evoke empathy around the challenges of maintaining an artistic practice and sense of identity within the context of motherhood; to articulate an honest embodiment of maternal experience.
Stretching, expanding, nourishing and protecting – the maternal body is the source of all human life. I explore the structure of the female form as a means to visualise the emotional tension between the profound pain and joy of being a mother. The rendering of the human figure has been a source of fascination for artists throughout the ages, as a vehicle to express narrative. Life drawing is fundamental to my process, enabling me to capture the nuances of anatomy and movement; to translate this fluidity of line and gesture into tangible forms.
To create is to bring into existence. I create from clay because of its inherent malleability, embracing visual narratives around the capacity of the female body to grow new life and adapt to change.
Symbolising human reproduction, the transformation from raw matter into a sustained entity is an energetic and physical act. Glaze is applied to the clay as paint to a canvas or skin on flesh, referencing materiality to the strength of a mother’s physical and emotional resilience. Visible marks of making are reminiscent of the physical marks our bodies acquire as we move through life; our imperfections – the scars of having lived.
Jen Donnery, 2020