ART + DESIGN SENIOR EXHIBITION
Girasol O'Neill
BFA Drawing
DESIGNER STATEMENT: Parenthood demands vigilance, dedication, and self-sacrifice. Parents are glorified; they are expected to be great. But where is the line between this dedication and self-destruction? Parenthood as Consumption flips the heroic yet serene depictions of motherhood we are socially taught to accept as standard by depicting the body in several stages of turmoil. I use surrealism to transform dreamy and tender maternal scenarios, such as breastfeeding, into nightmares. The soft lighting and floral landscapes of the typical late-pregnancy photoshoot are completely abandoned in favor of crimson and flesh. My sculptures of pregnant sculptures are painfully twisting and splintering; these bodies are not inviting you to embrace them, let alone stroke their bellies.
My treatment of the pregnant form is intentionally sacrilegious because my pregnancy was riddled with resentment over how my body was not politically and socially valued. I created life, yet my worth seemed eliminated. At the same time, my child, worth more to me than gold, is impossible to hoard and protect. The fear of death taking my baby becomes all-consuming, as if my life ends with his. Pregnancy can still be magical and parenthood can still be beautiful, and they are. They can still be fulfilling, and they are. But mothers are tired. I am tired.