MAINTENANCE / YLLÄPITO
The Maintenance / Ylläpito delves into the deeply personal intersection of motherhood and creativity. This interdisciplinary work consists of the performance The Art of Maintenance, video works Motherhouse / Femme Maison, Oracle, and When Then..., and the manifesto, which includes a declaration, zine, and a series of posters created using letterpress printing techniques.
The Maintenance / Ylläpito explores, from the perspectives of both an artist and a mother, the significance of domestic work, maintenance, and care in relation to creativity.
The project exhibition opens with a program declaration, a manifesto titled that asserts the importance of motherhood, maintenance, and the creation of art as integral to an equitable, fulfilling life, while also advocating for artistic freedom for mothers.
In the project exhibition, the viewer will tangibly experience the behind-the-scenes work that is often part of the life of an artist with children.
One of the inspirations for this work is Mierle Laderman Ukeles (1939), a visual artist based in New York who established the artistic movement Maintenance Art in 1969.
Exhibition view from Pesula Gallery.
Oracle, 2024. Installation; Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Hempf, iron board, linen, iron.
Oracle, 2024. Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Hemp paper, indian ink, gold leaf.
I serve my little god, 2024. Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Hemp paper, indian ink, gold leaf.
Why did you wait so long, Louise? 2024. Inkjet print on Hahnemühle Hemp paper, indian ink.
Exhibition view from Pesula Gallery.
An advanced soul does not wish to have a woman's body as its burden; after all, it is quite a laborious body, painful and prone to temptations. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 4.
Endangered Woman: Half the world´s sympathy was directed towards a halved endangered woman. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 4.
This is the utility-closet – it´s a shared space. Everyone needs a utility-closet. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 4.
Fuckin Recycle Everything!!! 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+. Edition of 5.
A woman who is artistically gifted is considered eccentric, but not credible. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 3.
Gateaway theory: Everyone here has passed through a mother-gate. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 5.
Everyone ends up hating their mothers. 2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+. edition of 4.
When Then…2024. Inkjet print, letterpress, A3+, edition of 4.
Feminist crossover: The motherartist. 2024. T-shirt with iron on patch.
Video performance Femme Maison, made by Motherartist and her child, 2024.
Videoperformance Oracle, 2024.
Videowork Sitten Kun.../ When Then..., 2024.