Maternal element – the unmothered

As with all artworks, A Way to Remember is informed by one’s own experiences. Spreading the mixture on the paper opened up an imaginary space where a domestic action of floor cleaning has been echoed, of a woman standing on four, rubbing her hands over a flat surface, as if cleaning or whipping some dirt. This was reinforced by the colour of the mixture which resembles dirt.

Regarding women who were not mothered psychoanalyst Clarisa Pinkola Estes writes: ‘[...] if she is unmothered, her instincts have not been sharpened.’[1] A person who’s basic instinct has been injured ‘instead of aiming toward new life, [...] sits down in a psychic pool of glue. Lack of fleeing when it is absolutely warranted causes depression.’[2] This was written as part of the research, where maternal trauma was explored and analysed. Indeed, this new work, although addressing a Palestinian town which got destroyed in 1948, was done through the artist’s own personal biography.

---

[1] Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves, London: Rider,1998, p. 186

[2] Ibid, p. 231

---