VIRTUAL ARTIST TALK - Thursday, March 27th @ 8:30pm
LINK TO INVITE
in Partnership with the Grand Rapids Maternal Wellness Program
Mater(hood) features recent works by Grand Rapids based artist Emily Mayo. The exhibition showcases narrative figurative charcoal drawings which intertwine the artist’s contemporary maternal narratives with historical imagery, drawing from Victorian hidden mother photographs, the Madonna and Child tradition, and many other references from art history.
Mater—the Latin word for “mother”— also refers to Madonna, particularly in her role as Mater Dolorosa (Mother of Sorrows), who embodies the ultimate act of sacrificial love. Her suffering is not passive but redemptive—enduring pain for the sake of another. This aligns with the concept of agape, the highest form of love in Christian theology, which is selfless, unconditional, and willing to bear suffering for the good of others. The Madonna’s silent endurance, her acceptance of both joy and sorrow in service to something greater, mirrors the lived reality of motherhood in all its complexities.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Mater(hood) explores the profound nature of other-centric, self-sacrificial love—the kind that embraces pain with a purpose. Motherhood, like art, is an act of both creation and endurance, where suffering is intrinsically tied to transformation. Through my work, I examine not only the physical and emotional toll of caregiving but also the beauty that emerges from this tension. These drawings serve as a deeply personal reflection on my own experience with depression, using art as a means to navigate and find resonance within this journey.
In this series, I intertwine contemporary narratives with historical imagery, drawing from Victorian hidden mother photographs, the Madonna and Child tradition, and other references from art history. By collaging my own photographic studies with these sources, I create compositions that exist in a suspended space—where time feels both stretched and immeasurable, much like the experience of caregiving and psychological struggle. Charcoal, my primary medium, mirrors this duality: born from fire, it is both a residue of destruction and an agent of purification. This inherent contradiction resonates with themes of sacrifice, renewal, and the unseen labor of love. Mater(hood) seeks to bridge the tangible and the spiritual, inviting viewers into a visual dialogue on devotion, loss, and the enduring power of maternal love.
