The Explosive Female Body: Artist Alexandra Carter’s Muse in Birth and Beyond
The Explosive Female Body: Artist Alexandra Carter’s Muse in Birth and Beyond
The Explosive Female Body: Artist Alexandra Carter’s Muse in Birth and Beyond
“The bulk of my work comes out of this place of the explosive female body and really meditating on that and looking at that. The body has always been my deepest interest, and painting the figure, and that has been the case for many, many years. And so when I started to think about family building and my reproductive health and my fertility, just even the inkling of those thoughts, the work started to become infused with these images of motherhood of the reproductive female body. Because it represents so much: there's so much richness there for me in terms of how we talk about the female body, in terms of its messiness and its inability to be contained.” - Alexandra Carter
Welcome back to Postpartum Production! We are thrilled to begin Season 3 of the podcast, and to be in community with you once again. Season 3 further examines the intersection of Birth and Creativity, and what better person to start the season than Alexandra Carter, an artist focused on fertility, maternity, and the monstrous feminine, and who, when we held this conversation, was just weeks from giving birth to her second child.
Alexandra’s recent solo exhibitions include “Monstrous Mothers” at the Middle Room in Los Angeles, “Bumps and Grinds” at Rogers Gallery in Las Vegas, “A Sense of Heat in Her Brain” at Luna Aeneas Gallery in Los Angeles, “Berries for BowBow” at Radiant Space in Los Angeles and “Tether,” which was a duo show at Oolong Gallery in Solana Beach, California.
In our first episode, Alexandra and Kaitlin discuss:
- Alexandra’s journey as an artist and how that has tandemed with her motherhood journey
- How she is preparing for her second birth, both as a human and as an artist, and how it compares to that of her highly-medicalized first pregnancy
- The meaning of the “explosive female body,” a subject much of Alexandra’s work focuses on
More about Alexandra:
- Website: https://www.alexandra-carter.com/
- Instagram @alexandracarterstudio
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For regular updates:
Visit our website: postpartumproduction.com
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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...
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