It feels particularly pressing to create a maternal time capsule of this moment.

Will the sensations/experiences of this durational stress be fleeting? (Like the maternal brain is programmed to forget the embodied pain of childbirth?) As mothers/caregivers, our bodies record  trauma and stress, but that we might somehow collectively forget if we do not make an intentional effort to record. That the power of this pandemic experience will not be acknowledged or harnessed to create a more supportive, equitable future for mothers/caregivers. How can we better listen to mothers/caregivers? Could this exhibition/archive provide a space for nourishing connections? How can archiving be a supportive practice?

The start of this project marks the anniversary of a year of pandemic and is the culmination of a semester-long dive into complex topics of time, including the questions: “Whose time is privileged and legitimized?” and “How can linear, progressive representations of time be challenged?” The following scholars and writers have been instrumental in expanding my thinking for this project: Sara Ahmed, Ariella Azoulay, Lisa Baraitser, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Rosemary Betterton, Tiffany Lethabo King, Rahsaan Mahadeo, José Muñoz, Andrea O'Reilly, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith. Additionally I want to thank and acknowledge Dr. Faye Gleisser and her Art History seminar “Contemporaneity”—for creating the container to explore this topic, asking questions, providing support, and introducing me to a wealth of resources.

This project also draws upon the work of Dr. Sarah Knott.  Her book Mother is a Verb provides a compelling example of maternal archiving, capturing the elusive fragments of early mothering and connecting them to historical threads. I also draw inspiration from Knott’s ongoing COVID archival project, a platform that documents personal experiences of the pandemic.

Additionally I would like to acknowledge the following Indiana University faculty for their ongoing support. Carissa Carman, thank you for your writing mentorship, endless passion and artist references. Thanks to Elizabeth Claffey for asking the deep questions, inspiring my conceptual practice in new and exciting ways. My gratitude to Melanie Pennington for thoughtful, funny and inspirational studio visits and to Fafnir Adamites and Rowland Ricketts for amazing Fibers mentorship.

My interest in creating an exhibition that features mother/artists has also been fostered through the work of Kaylan Buteyn (Artist/Mother Network and Podcast), Lauren McLaughlin (Spilt Milk Galley), Sarah Irvin (Artist Parent Index), Lauren Frances Evans (Artist Parent Academic) and Dyana Gravina (Procreate Project).

Thanks to writer and NYT parenting columnist Jessica Grose for her compelling coverage of the maternal pandemic experience in The Primal Scream.

Exhibition Organizer

Emily Zarse (she/her/hers)

I am a visual artist, curator and educator. My practice centers topics of the body, gender and reproduction, and is grounded in archival activations and community collaborations. I received an MFA from Indiana University in 2022.

I acknowledge that my home, place of study and work Indiana University Bloomington is built on Indigenous homelands and resources. I recognize and honor the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee people as past, present, and future caretakers of this land.

www.emilyzarse.com

@emilyzarse.