This work seeks to create a visual representation of motherhood in the post-modern era. Through gesture and gaze, I explore the ambivalence of the mother’s relationship to her child, juxtaposed against the unselfconscious self-absorption of the child. I paint my subjects in their own living rooms, exploring the persistent accumulation of energy and emotion within a confined space. I also lift a pattern that is in the subjects’ living room and recreate it in line work on the canvas to further emphasize the concept of home and the patterns of the mother and child’s daily lives together.

I am influenced by Edward Hopper’s portrayal of silent ambivalent relationships, Kerry James Marshall paintings of living rooms of his youth, and Katherine Spence’s work on motherhood.

I work in acrylic, often in thin layers and often with a dry brush in order to capture the subtle transition of light and color across a wall and the emotional effect of light destroying form.

Sarah HaBa - 2006