Knots & Nodes : : Mother to mother, Virtually : : June 12 - 28 2020 : : Chicago Art Department, Chicago

Mother to Mother, Virtually. Knots & Nodes. is an opportunity for the artists of MotherArt: Revisited to explore collective making practice and share evocations of love, care and commitment to each other and reaching out to the CAD community by initiating the dialogue, communicating virtually and materially through mothering/art process and creative exchange on pending issues that our society is currently facing. The most urgent issue we face today as mothers is the safety of our children in the climate of police brutality and racial inequality. As mothers of all colors we stand in solidarity with BLACK LIVES MATTER, the most pending issue of today. And We Insist…!

Mother to Mother, Virtually. Knots & Nodes took place at CAD in the midst of the COVID pandemic and social/ racial upheaval. We got together as mothers to transmit our thoughts and feelings. To support each other and reach out to the community.

In the cavernous North Central gallery of Chicago Art Department, a gigantic clothing line, a motif from previous MAR installations, is knotted to become an installation and virtual broadcast site localizing and expanding nodes of interconnectedness between the artwork, artists and the community.

Mother Art Revisited (MAR) is a Chicago-based international collective of mother artists, committed to carving out space to support one another in maintaining active/sustainable artistic practices.

In the spirit of the original Mother Art which began in the ‘70s with Women’s Building in San Francisco and got notable for their fearless aesthetics and Anti War pop-up art interventions, Mother Art: Revisited strives to interrupt and intervene through installations, exhibitions, and written work to set a precedent in the way mother artists collaborate and work remotely to create art that is relevant, educational and inspiring.

I co-curated, facilitated and hosted Mother to Mother, Virtually. Knots & Nodes at my studio base, Chicago art Department. I presented work and transmitted virtual programming along with my fellow MAR members from the site. Our exhibition became a base foe thought provoking discussions, performances and engagements in the midst of the pandemic.

Works by Susan Krueger Barber, Sonja Blum, Marjorie Boyles, Jamie Nakagawa Boley, Laura Drey, Elisabeth Dzuricsko, Margarita Fainshtein, Patricia RAIN Gianneschi, Clareese Hill, Beth Iska, Monica Kelsie, Jenny Keyser, Jessica Mueller, Joanne Tepper Saffren, Erin Schalk, Kris Schaedig, Galina Shevchenko, Marika Whitaker, Valerie A Xanos, and CAD studio resident Macus Alonso.

MAR artists Curatorial Committee: Elisabeth Dzuricsko, Patricia RAIN Gianneschi, Beth Iska, Jenny Keiser, Jessica Mueller & Galina Shevchenko.