Podchaser Logo
Home
Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Released Wednesday, 22nd May 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Art and Advocacy: Ashley January’s Response to the Black Maternal Health Crisis

Wednesday, 22nd May 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

In this episode, we sit with contemporary artist Ashley January to discuss her powerful paintings inspired by maternal experiences. Ashley delves into themes of preeclampsia, premature birth, and birth trauma, shining a spotlight on the Black maternal mortality and morbidity crisis in America. Her art is not just a reflection of her personal journey but also an act of activism, aiming to bring awareness and change to the maternal health landscape.

In this episode, Kaitlin and Ashley discuss:

  1. Art and Maternal Experience: Ashley shares how her journey through motherhood, including facing preeclampsia and premature birth, has profoundly influenced her artwork.
  2. The Black Maternal Health Crisis: We explore the critical issues of Black maternal mortality and morbidity in America, and how Ashley's art addresses and brings visibility to these challenges.
  3. Art in Clinical Spaces: The impact of Ashley’s work being featured in clinical settings like Tufts University's Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice and Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago.


More about Ashley:


Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.

For regular updates:

Visit our website: postpartumproduction.com  

Follow us on Instagram: @postpartumproductionpodcast

Subscribe to our podcast newsletter on Substack: https://postpartumproduction.substack.com

Show More
Rate

From The Podcast

Postpartum Production

TL;DR (i.e., give me the elevator pitch!) description:Being a producer of creative projects and a mother don’t need to be mutually exclusive pursuits—how can we as parents in early postpartum (and well beyond!) reframe and reclaim the work we do as creatives and caregivers, to be seen as productive, valued, and meaningful? Join novelist and host Kaitlin Solimine on this journey to reframing postpartum and caregiving as worthy of intellectual, philosophical, and socially-impactful pursuit.Long description:It’s hard to find the balance between being a mother and pursuing creative projects – especially during the 4th trimester. When Kaitlin Solimine, a published, award-winning author and mother of three young children, was lying in bed recovering from her third childbirth, she had an epiphany: this time that most have described as “lost” time, was rather extremely creatively informative for her (she wrote new sections of her novel and even launched this podcast from that bed!).Deep in the trenches of early postpartum herself, join Kaitlin and her creator-activist-mother guests, as they navigate the liminal space between mothering and creating. If you are a new parent in postpartum, had a creative pursuit before you became a mother, or simply seek inspiration from other artists who are creating during a transitional time, this is the podcast for you.These episodes will provide you with practical and philosophical suggestions on how to reframe your work in a space where parenting is not ordinarily considered meaningful productivity, generate new ideas on how to incorporate creativity into motherhood (and how parenting moments may inspire creative pursuits as well!), and explore other artists’ processes around creating during the transition to parenting young children. Although this podcast is not meant to be prescriptive, hearing these stories and learning about the tools other creatives use will hopefully inspire you to consider ways to integrate your artist and caregiver identities in meaningful, impactful ways.Why the term “production”?Google the term “postpartum” and you’ll be led to a plethora of websites about postpartum depression and anxiety. While these are important topics and experiences worthy of additional research and support, the postpartum period, when treated with support and curiosity, can be reframed as one of creative possibility and identity transformation. Rather than relinquishing new mothers to corners where they need to choose between creative work and caregiving, or where they feel completely lost when it comes to their creative identity, this podcast provides a third path for creative mothers who are seeking meaning and validation of the caregiving work they do on a daily basis.What is “productive” time when you’re a mother and a creative? How can public-facing creative projects, and the often hidden and devalued time of raising humans, be seen as “productive” pursuits within the current capitalist structure of American and Western society?Kaitlin herself has discovered that the postpartum period after birth offers an opportunity to pause and find new significance to exploring artistry while caregiving as an integral part of life. Notably, Kaitlin recorded the early episodes of her first season while in postpartum with her third child.Biweekly, Kaitlin talks with authors, poets, writers, painters, philosophers, and parenting experts about mothering, changing perceptions of motherhood/parenting, art, creativity, activism, family leave, childbirth, finding inspiration, changing identities, expansive change, caregiving roles, and more.

Join Podchaser to...

  • Rate podcasts and episodes
  • Follow podcasts and creators
  • Create podcast and episode lists
  • & much more

Episode Tags

Do you host or manage this podcast?
Claim and edit this page to your liking.
,

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features