Artwork Description
Swoon – Dawn and Gemma
Dimensions: 60 x 40″
Year: 2014
Medium: silkscreen and hand painting on paper and wood
Swoon created Dawn and Gemma during the period in which she came to terms with the hardships of her relationship with her mother. Dawn is a childhood friend of the artist, and witnessing how Dawn connected with and cared for her two children was a revelation for Swoon. She says of the experience, “On this particular day, we sat and talked while she breastfed her new baby, and I felt totally awestruck at the beauty and tenderness of the moment. As I drew this piece, I was able to contemplate the presence of a deeply loving, generative force in all of us. I was able to draw myself nearer to the ways that mothering is present in the world, and that drawing myself nearer was like a balm to my soul.”