People like dear Christina over at A Mermaid in the Attic. Yesterday was the anniversary of her baby girl's birth and death and she shared her Lullaby for a Lost Mermaid...
Having lost several babies myself, this touches me deeply...
We only have the marker of one child's death to visit - the other three being deemed miscarriages by the doctors - but at Connie's little grave we remember them all, as they all were Never Known, Always Loved...
This year she would have become an adult(!), but to my heart and mind, she and her other brothers and sisters, are timeless...
Christina's rawly honest, beautiful lullaby echoes my own heart's song.
As does this favourite sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, which can be seen in the new Hepworth Wakefield Gallery, which opened today.
Hepworth courted controversy throughout her life - not least when she put her triplets, by fellow artist Ben Nicholson, in care when they were small so she - and presumably he - could pursue her art. As every artist-mother knows, our children inspire so much, yet they can take away the very time and energy needed to bring this inspiration to light and form...
Certainly this is Tracey Emin's view...
In this week's Culture Show she talks about her new exhibition Love Is What You Want, and describes her art as her children.
Now, Emin has never been a favourite artist of mine - her work often 'shouts' too much for me (though i can understand her inner rage, she was raped aged 13 and aborted twins when she was 18) - but she is honest and articulate and I respond to that...
As for me, I'm still not brave enough to explore my experiences of motherhood in my own art - the hurts and joys are soooo intertwined... though I know, deep in my being, that this an incredibly rich vein to mine...
Maybe, this post is the first scratch at the surface *GULP*
3 comments:
Claire, thank you so much for your beautiful comments. Motherhood indeed is a strange journey, so full of joy and wonder...and yet so full of contradictions and sorrow too. It's a strange path to negotiate, and as you said, there is always a hole in your heart and your life, where that beautiful lost child should fit, no matter how much you love your other children.
Motherhood holds so many journeys for each of us. Whether we are a mother, or have a mom or are trying to become one, it is something we maternally feel no matter where our journey lays. Beautiful post Claire!
For something that touches so many women, it amazes me how life's fragility is kept so silent.
It's lovely to hear your poetic words.
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