“Cut The Apron Ties” // ”Is She Sleeping Through The Night”

Vintage and repurposed fabric (pillowcases, napkins, tablecloths, needlework etc), 75 x 45 cm.

Taken from a series of works inspired by the Asafo flags of the Fante people of Ghana, my flags of Motherhood visually translate my lexicon of mothership handed down to mothers by mothers in the form of ‘advice’, ‘guidance’ and ‘social rules’.

The flags focus on my time in a state of postpartum and transition into Matrescence, where the floodgates of advice giving and pressure to do as everyone does, for fear of the repercussions is at time still present. Threading together motifs such as breadfruit, scissors, breasts and un-cut keys as though each is a word within a sentence or phrase forms a ditty of advice.

There is silence in the colour of the flags as the white pillowcases become the canvas, jabbing to issues of sleep, lack of sleep and domestic intimacy. Cutting and sewing from a collection of vintage linen, napkins and hand embroidered handkerchiefs, reiterates the idea of handed down ‘words of wisdom’, women’s work and labour(childbirth).

Unlike flags of a nation or sports team, flags of Motherhood are manifold, the flying of each flag with its double-sided design gives space for a new personal identity to form alongside shared experiences and familiarities.