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"Reparation... is a wider concept than Freud's concepts of undoing in the obsessional neurosis and of reaction formation, for it includes the variety of processes by which the ego feels it undoes harm done in phantasy, restores, preserves, and revives objects. The importance of this tendancy, bound up as it is with feelings of guilt, also lies in the major contribution it makes to all sublimations, and in this way to mental health".
Melanie Klein, The Psychoanalytic Play Technique, Its History and Significance, 1955.
'A Stitch In Time Saves Nine'.
This body of work is concentrated around a central theme of maternity, which not only refers to pregnancy and birth but also refers to other situations connected with pregnancy; miscarriage, abortion, and Post Natal Depression. At some point each and every one of us may experience that of maternity, but the circumstances may differ for each. It could be a negative experience for some and a positive experience for others yet we know that maternity does not only affect the mother and her physical body but maternity touches others involved, for example; family, friends and partner. We know that maternity can have psychological and emotional impacts upon us and over the past few years the issue of Post Natal Depression has been further researched, understood and recognized more than ever before so that people can be helped. This work therefore aims to look at maternity with all of this in mind and my ideas are concerned with not only displaying the physical changing pregnant body but also the emotional and psychological implications associated with maternity such as emptiness and mourning.
The female body becomes a protective container in pregnancy and there is reference to something growing inside, there can become an interest with the inner and outer body, the contained/uncontained. Another artist who raises questions concerned with the inner body is Nina Saunders whose re-upholstered chair pieces contain bursting growths which, which could be viewed as tumours or foreign bodies that do not belong, invading and taking over the host's body. This relates to my ideas regarding the female body being used as a container to house an unwanted baby. The growth becomes the most important thing and the chair becomes secondary to everything else. The usage of furniture however has another psychological implication.
As put forth by the leading child psychoanalyst Melanie Klein, furniture seen through a child's eyes represents the physical body of the mother, father, sisters and brothers. During infant anxiety situations a child may hit out at such furniture, in an act of rage to hurt the mother. The child may then feel guilty of his act of small hatred towards a loved one when in actual fact he loves his mother and so feels the need for reparation, to heal and repair his own emotions of guilt.
The leather chair goes through a lived body experience which embodies that of maternity. Documented by video we see how the chair changes from a normal state; to heavily pregnant; to emptiness and mourning and eventual reparation and repair, displaying physical scars and stitching and also emotional repair with psychological scars. The coloured rags used, speak as metaphors for a baby and the soft use of woolen stitches relates to birth and physical injury done to the female body during birth/abortion. We all have the need to repair damaged relationships, and rifts but also we need to repair ourselves, our own emotions and so this work is about repairing myself in relation to the chair and that of maternity as this work all stems from a personal experience. Like many artists I find that the process of creating the art, in this case, taking something apart and putting it back together again the most important part of the artwork.
For the importance of the process it became necessary to document the making of the piece and my emotional journey in relationship to the chair and the situation, and so the video is now an integral part of the work for understanding the leather chair. The performative aspect documents the chairs stages in development during pregnancy and shows my struggle at times to stitch it back together. The fact that the chair is leather adds to the piece and is important as leather contains the quality of skin, which stretches as does the leather and then sags as the body changes during pregnancy. Performativity becomes important in this work as the process of making becomes ritualistic and almost like a chore at times. The chair became the bane of my life at on point and I realised the emotional torment and exhaustion that maternity can have on people. The changing colour of the wool is symbolism for the fact that the journey of maternity, in this case is over and the person is now happy having gone through a reparative state, however there will always be a piece missing.
The painting in this body of work is for me a reflection of the journey and relationship undertaken. It is almost like a diary entry or a letter which expresses the emotions and struggles at times. Riddled with secrets and hidden meanings it speaks the inner thoughts and truth. The painting is the final chapter in this emotional journey and concludes the feelings of the past so that a fresh start and new beginning can be made.
