Absence: Adoption in Art
Abstract
While the prolific ‘Madonna and child’ painterly motif, and recent MIRCI publicationsattest to the existence of representations of mothering in fine art throughthe ages, as well as contemporary art and photography, notably absent are images ofa different kind of maternity, and non-normative family formation unreliant onbiogenetic kinship or childbirth: the adoptive experience. Cover art for publications,usually from small press, or children’s book illustrations, saccharine posters and calligraphicproclamations available on the Internet appear to form this canon. Whataccounts for the historical absence of true artistic depictions of the social, cultural,psychological, physiological, and political complexity of adoption? What does theprivileging of the ‘biological imperative’ communicate? Finding art and artists whorepresent the adoptee, birthmother or adoptive mother was a challenge I took up, asa member of the adoption triad, familiar with some of its lingering pressures andstigmas despite growing openness in definitions of family and motherhood. Leadingto slim offerings of multimedia, installation art, and limited edition artist’s books,of the few contemporary images that do exist, I investigate what happens whenwe deconstruct them.Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
All intellectual property in relation to material included on this site belongs to the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI). All material on this site is protected by Canadian and international copyright and other intellectual property laws. Users may not do anything which interferes with or breaches those laws or the intellectual property rights in the material. All materials on the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, sale, distribution, display or exploitation of the information, in any form or by any means, or its storage in a retrieval system, whether in whole or in part, without the express written permission of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement (MIRCI) is prohibited. Please contact us for permission to reproduce any of our materials. This site may include third party content which is subject to that third party's terms and conditions of use.