Publicity: Lindley Warren Mickunas
The theme of maternal attachment is a laden, chaotic entanglement that offers both comfort and trauma. We are all born of the same anatomy, but no two experiences are the same. Cultural shows how we think about motherhood, how we envision it, what we include and what we hide, how much we resist its complexity.
In Maternal Sheet, the Chicago-based artist Lindley Warren Mickunas vividly examines addiction, the trauma of generations and violence against female bodies. "I wanted to do a job that had more to do with the complex dynamics in families, especially families facing different trauma."
The title Maternal Sheet has many meanings to me, but one of them is the idea that this specific relationship covers everything. It's so crucial to our being
An udder-like glove that squeezes milk out, the delicate touch of a child playing with its mother's hair, the pressure of parental control on young shoulders. These images are familiar yet uncomfortable. They describe how family history can have a stronghold in all facets of our life. Warren Mickunas combines staged reenactments from childhood experiences and the documentation of her family and navigates in the process of rethinking the physical, literal and emotional weight of the mother-daughter relationship. Both trauma and healing are palpable.
“I have a very complicated relationship with my mother that has ruined my entire life. The title Maternal Sheet has many meanings to me, but one of them is the idea that this specific relationship covers everything. It's so important to our being. “Your framing activates that feeling of ubiquitous power – immersive, awkward, sometimes claustrophobic.
All images: From the Maternal Sheet series