“My studio is located in a second story spare bedroom of our suburban Atlanta home. From that window, I look for beauty in the small, strange everyday moments of contradictions. The neighbor remodeling his bathroom and putting his old tub in the trash. A flooded playhouse in my backyard. The flipped over traffic cones the power company puts out. These don’t always get interpreted in my work as they happen, but they might get combined with other ideas and images I see when sitting in the carpool line at school, going for a walk with my daughters, or watching them dive into the cold water at swim practice.”

‘I’ve been making work that is exhibited in parallel ways for the past few years – work that is meant for gallery exhibitions and work that is more community oriented and shown in churches, on the streets of Philadelphia and dropped at public locations through my travels. While my kids are involved in everything I do – they get most excited to help me install work in non-traditional spaces. They really enjoy my “heart affirmation drops” which are small felt hearts with positive affirmations rolled up and inserted into the heart. They are then dropped as I travel throughout my day. I often keep a stash in my car. They get a kick of being kind and leaving messages for people to find. And while they see me work and help to carry and install in gallery and museum venues -they aren’t as connected (or excited) about it.’

‘My artistic practice is propelled by the limited ways in which the experiences of women are represented within image making. Using photography, I work with constructed narratives that are inspired by the quiet moments in women’s lives where seemingly nothing (and everything) occurs. I am especially interested in the complex emotions that underlie these mundane points in time. Communication, vulnerability and transformation are re-occurring themes in my practice.’

Read our interview with Arin Ashley. Arin is an interdisciplinary artist and educator living in Philadelphia, PA. She is originally from Louisville, KY were she was born and raised. Arin identifies as queer, gender-non-conforming and uses she/they pronouns. She received a BFA in both Glass and Photography from the University of Louisville and an MFA in Glass/Ceramics from Tyler School of Art in 2019.

“Prehistoric mums inspire me in their matriarchal/matrilinear societies, where they were attuned to the cyclic nature of life, death and rebirth; bringing spirituality and creativity into everyday life including the lives of their children. “

Alessandra Leruste has been volunteering with us for the past three weeks, assisting with all aspects of installing, promoting, invidulating and de-installing our 2019 members exhibition ‘re: birth’. Alessandra reflects on her experience, what she has learned from being involved in the exhibition, and some important thoughts on diversity and inclusion.

“Probably my biggest challenge has been my upbringing and my marital partners’ (I am divorced and remarried) lack of understanding of the art world and therefore at times unintentional lack of support. While my parents supported me as an artist during my early schooling, I had immense pressure and expectation to be financially stable. I was not strong at ignoring this pressure. I have also experienced divorce, single parenthood, a five-year time period in my current marriage where my husband’s job necessitated he live in another state and I stay in the city where I shared custody with my ex-husband. Messy, yes. My practice has flourished and waned based on the presence of said support. It has been a grieving process of sorts to only now be truly heading toward goals I had established many years ago. I think life has a way of offering us pointers or guides and too often I had to ignore those in lieu of addressing immediate family needs.”

“I think having kids brought more depth into my life. I feel like my life has more perspective now. And time is much more perceptible. When I was younger I didn’t care as much about time as I do now because it is so visible that time passes with the kids growing and my body changing. Also I feel time is limited in every way; in the studio, with my husband, with my friends and being alive in general. There are so many emotions tied to giving birth to another human being, which for me was the greatest and weirdest thing I ever experienced in my life. In a way I gave birth to both of my kids but also a new me. I was confused in the beginning about who this new me was, but now I feel more confident about who I am and what I want out of this life.”

“I have a small collection of drawings my sons have made of me over the years. What I love most about these drawings is that they show they’re not fooled by my pretense at calm and control! In one picture it looks like I am in a cleaning frenzy – which does happen sometimes – and in another I am holding a sharp knife in each hand. I feel like I have taught the kids to be critical viewers and thinkers. Aged 16 and 11 they both describe themselves as feminists.”

Read our interview with Zoe Freney!

Laura Ajayi (BFA ‘09, University of Lethbridge) is a mother-artist and educator based in Ottawa, Canada. In addition to the productive work of mothering, Ajayi has exhibited her work across Canada and facilitated studio arts programming in Ontario, Alberta and Nunavut.