Matrescence is a term which may not be familiar to many, although it was first coined in 1973 by American medical anthropologist Dana Raphael. The dry dictionary definition of the term (when available – not all dictionaries even recognise it) reads as:
The process of becoming (and coming to inhabit the role of) a mother. From the Latin mātrēscēns, mātrēscō (“I become a mother”)
I say “dry” as the definition actually leaves so much unsaid. The birth of a first child is profoundly transformative for a woman – as transformative as that any human passing through adolescence, bringing as it does physical, psychological, hormonal, etc., changes. However, while science and culture keep us well informed about the latter, matrescence is far less understood (and thus often confused with postpartum depression / PMAD).
The difference is, motherhood is quite literally life-changing; one that unlike adolescence, can be experienced more than once, although the first time is probably the most impactful because it is a step into the unknown: a complete watershed – physically, emotionally, mentally / psychologically and spiritually, – between all that came before and all that follows after. It is a transition which artists and ARTCARE Gallery owner Carelyna beautifully sums up within her exhibition entitled Matrescence:
Matrescene is … a ritual of passage, a spectrum of emotional and existential ruptures, it’s much like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. Matrescence is lifelong in the sense that one you become a parent, you will forever be.
This is a description offering much to ponder about motherhood. However, and more particularly here, it is used as a personal way to recognise and pay tribute to Carelyna’s own mother and all she offered, and who passed away at the end of 2023.
Comprising twelve pieces in Carelyna’s distinctive abstract style, Matresence presents rich interpretations on many of the elements and changes associated with becoming a mother (offering the safest place for the life within her to grow, the blooming of her pregnancy, birth, the psychological and emotional pressures, the gaining of strength and wisdom, and more). At the same time the pieces offer insight into all that Carelyna’s mother meant to her: a pair of loving arms to hold and protect, a giver of wisdom, a soother of fears and worries, a guide and comfort through puberty / adolescence – and (again) more.
Carelyna’s work is always rich and vivid in its use of colour and tone. Here the choice of colour and use of brushwork results in a series of pieces which individually stand on their own merit as a work of abstract art, whilst the subject framing and personal nature folded into each of them brings added depth and interpretation.
SLurl Details
- ARTCARE Gallery (Emotion, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 