Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Maternal Subjectivity In Painting: A Response To The Idealization Of Artists And Mothers, Heather Lea Reid

Master of Humanities Capstone Projects

The focus of this project thesis is maternal subjectivity in contemporary art. Despite the embedded theme of mother and child in the history of Western art, the subject of children and motherhood has become taboo. Likewise, a stigma exists in the art world about mothers being artists. This thesis explains the historical context that created the current art world paradigmone that still embraces romantic notions of who can be an artist, based on limiting traditional ideas of "greatness" or "genius." Such a model suppresses the voice of the outsider. This essay examines the mother as an outsider in artmaking by …