“Out of the Blue”
(exploring the motherhood theme 2021-22) 

A collaborative project with visual/performance artist Silke Michels.

“Broken-Open we are the Mothers… The Trees in this forest” (to be continued)

The project started in 2021 with an online inclusive/networking workshop for new mothers from different cultural backgrounds living in Ireland, creating a safe and creative space to share experiences and collect stories; it culminated in a collaborative multidisciplinary vision between Silke Michels and myself, to deeply explore the motherhood theme and to give shape the mothers voices. Thanks to the support of the Agility Award from the Dublin Arts Council, we got the possibility to develop our visions, exploring with natural material, words and actions, inside and outside (in nature). 

​

“I like the contrast between inside and outside, building and destroying, holding and letting go, the image of strength & fragility of our body”

We took some keywords from the mothers’ stories, words that resonate with us, to work on the contrasts of strength and fragility, container and content, fluidity and rootedness, joy and pain… letting ourselves be inspired by them. We met and immersed into a creative process, choosing to translate these concepts into another level to work within nature and find our identity as mothers. We realized the power of working in a multidisciplinary way, sharing different knowledges united just by what we had in common: being mothers in an away land. 

​

We focused on the hands of the mothers as a “symbol” that continues to create, to fold and unfold, do and undo, that reconnects us to our mothers’ and grandmothers’ efforts and vulnerability. 

​

Another exploration came from the words “Broken open - scattered to pieces” where we deeply went into the vulnerability and strengths of a woman’s body preparing for birth and the physical and spiritual changes that take place through and after giving birth. We explored with and in nature, working with material as soil, wool, mud, seaweed, in the rocks, rivers, forests and studios space bringing soil inside and wool outside to drawing maps, feelings and create in the moment for a live performance. At the end we decided to devise our material in a forest, with the intention to create a short film to share with mothers!