Spilt Milk is an artist-led social enterprise based in Scotland whose mission is to promote the work of artists who are mothers. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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'Via Lactea', (2019) Breastmilk & Cyanotype by Toni Pepe. I am interested in the form of motherhood – the materials and substances that comprise this experience. Many of the interactions that make up motherhood are ephemeral – consumed by time, the body, and the environment. Repetitive tasks and touches that create a framework for familial time – the meals, baths, haircuts, lost teeth, laundry, conversations, embraces and unspoken exchanges that amass over a lifetime, yet evaporate almost as soon as they occur. I began exploring motherhood in my own work shortly after giving birth to my son in 2012. While the impetus for this work derives from my personal experience as a new mother, the pieces are also embroiled in the wider myth and fantasy of motherhood itself. Via Lactea, which is Latin for Milky Way, is an ongoing body of cyanotype and breastmilk pieces. The celestial-like results of the interaction of light and milk evoke the mythological connections between the female body and creation. The cyanotype process is also one of the earliest forms of photography, used to document the night sky and specimens from the natural world. @toni.pepe . . . . #cyanotype #cyanotypeprocess #breastmilk #breastfeeding #motherhood #nightsky #tonipepe #photography #milkyway #vialactea #creation #rebirthexhibition #spiltmilkgallery #spiltmilk #breastfeedingart #femalephotographer #internationalartist #exhibition #edinburgh
“I am interested in an alternative mother and child narrative. At the core of my imagery is a focus on the cycle of transformation one undergoes through giving birth, our awareness of mortality and a compulsion for re-invention. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley writes ‘The world to me was a secret, which I desired to discover; to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own’ (1818). Shelley’s words capture my interest in the idiosyncrasies of creation, the value of exploration in this practice, and art’s own integrity to bear unforeseen meaning through the process of being made.” @suzanneschireson . Suzanne Schireson lives in Providence, Rhode Island, USA and has two small children. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Woodmere Art Museum (Philadelphia, PA), Cade Tompkins Projects (Providence, RI), Smith College (Northampton, MA), The Sori Art Center (Jeollabuk-do, South Korea), The Beijing World Art Museum (Beijing, China), the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra (Guwahati, Assam, India) and The Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France). She is the recipient of a RISCA Fellowship for Drawing and two Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grants (Montreal, Canada). Suzanne attended Indiana University (M.F.A.), the University of Pennsylvania (B.F.A.) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (Certificate). . ‘Hunters who Gather’ was exhibited as part of ‘re:birth Spilt Milk Members Show 2019. DM us for more info on this gorgeous painting, or head to our website ~ #linkinbio . . . . #hunterswhogather #suzanneschireson #oilonlinen #painting #womenwhopaint #womenartist #motherartist #red #figurativepainting #oilpainting #abstractpainting #largescalepaintings #buyart #investinart #artcollector #collectart #womenartists #onlineshop #shopart #socent #supportart
Disintegrated draws from part of an Alice Notley poem, "A Baby Is Born Out of a White Owl's Forehead," which describes the self-erasure of her identity with the birth of her children. Already having had two children, I was faced with an unplanned pregnancy and the arduous decision as to whether to go through with it. The most daunting fear was losing any identity I had outside that of maternity. At 21 months of age, my younger child was just starting to get out of diapers and gradually gaining some measure of independence, and I was starting to inch toward having slightly more freedom. To be struck with the looming prospect of having to deal with at least another two years of diapers and breastfeeding, to be once again tethered to the monotony of caretaking, to be devoured by the immensity of the role of parenting another baby was anxiety-inducing. I despaired at the thought that my life might be reduced to the nucleus of a baby. I would be pressing the reset button. Disintegrated presents the contrast between the birth of a child with the resulting effects upon the mother. While a child's birth might ordinarily elicit joy, part of the piece highlights how the emergence of a baby triggers a mourning of the obliteration of any identity separate from motherhood. It is a piercing, heart-wrenching realization. Conversely, the other half of the piece presents the the invisibility of any identities beyond motherhood, as well as the hidden internal struggle I — and likely, many mothers — experience as a result of having had children. As a whole, Disintegrated makes visible a mother's postpartum sense of self (or lack thereof), revealing a part of new motherhood that is often neglected. . . ‘Disintegrated’ @ohhellodawn was exhibited as part of ‘re: birth’ - Spilt Milk Members Show ‘19 . . #dawnyow #disintegrated #textbasedvisualart #maternalmentalhealth #postpartum #motherhood #motherartist #spiltmilkgallery #birth #pregnancy #rebirth #exhibition #ppd #postpartumhealth #worldsmentalhealthday #makingmotherhoodsvisible #spiltmilk #contemporaryart #alicenotley #poetry #womenartists #maternalanxiety #caretaking
Gone but not forgotten. Our exhibition may have come to an end but you can still view the works on our website and we will continue to share them on here over the next couple weeks. . Images: ‘Dead End’ by @anneleenphoto part of the series ‘In Sacred Memory’ which was exhibited as part of ‘re: birth’. . ‘In Sacred Memory' is an ongoing series of images observing old, stone graves and memorials being overtaken by nature or repurposed into walls and floors, in the way of 'progress'. Treasured memories and traces of relationships are subsumed into the earth - and life goes on. The image 'Dead End' takes its title from my 3 year old daughter who, when we took a walk in an overgrown Victorian graveyard, used it as her playground and decided she was in a maze. At that time she had no concept of death, though in the couple of months since has asked questions about it. She kept calling out 'Dead End' when she got to a grave. She was just using a phrase she'd heard with no concept of its connotations or why it was funny. Her innocence struck me and felt fitting within the context of the new life springing up around and over the graves. The graveyard in the image is in North East London. There is a well-used short-cut path running through it and it is currently undergoing a community restoration project. Local people are 'adopting' and tending the graves, planting flowers and there are guided walks around it. The project is in its early days and the graveyard is large, so there are currently still 100s of untended graves. What could be framed as a melancholy and creepy place felt to me like a space of hope, peace and renewal and a monument to love past and present.’ . . . #anneleenlindsayphotography #photographer #edinburgh #womeninphotography #femalephotographer #motherartist #graveyard #deadend #insacredmemory #death #gravestones #rebirth #greenery #landscape #portrait #buyart #limitededition #photographer #limitededition #aaf #shopart #shopprints #supportlocal #childsplay
The final push! (Pardon the pun) Today is the last day of our exhibition! We are open all day until 7pm! At 4pm we will be giving a final tour of the show and hosting a closing drinks reception from 5:30-7.pm. All welcome- third floor gallery one @st_margaretsh . . . #edinburghevenets #exhibitions #rebirth #birth #motherhood #gallery #spiltmilkgallery #closingreception #thefinalpush #sorrynotsorry😂 #pardonthepun #gallerywall #womenartists #artcollective #motherartists
After a little detour to the Edinburgh Fedex Depot, we are relieved and very excited to have this original drawing @leenowellwilson as part of ‘re: birth’. ‘Within this piece, the laundry takes on the metaphor of birth and the weight it carriers. Simultaneously, laundry speaks towards the domestic sphere and the stereotypical tasks that are culturally assigned to a stay-at-home mother. The figure sits in a position that looks strenuous - pointing towards her mental and physical load, as well as her struggle to balance her personal experience with birth and cultural expectations pinned on her.’ . . Come along and see it for yourself! Exhibition tour 4-5pm and closing reception 5-7pm this Saturday 12th October. . We also have some of the original artworks and prints from the show available in our online shop. Link in our profile. . . . #leenowellwilson #drawing #charcoaldrawing #blackandwhitedrawing #figurative #spiltmilkgallery #exhibition #closingreception #friezelondon #shopart #supportwomen #supportartists #collectart #artcollector #frieze #socent #wimeninthearts #motherartists #beautifulwomen #originalart #forsale #buyart #investinlivingartists
‘Evidence IV’ by Elizabeth (Libby) McFalls. (2016) “This piece marks the final work in a series of four drawings that explored the meaning of evidence of life. In 2012, my husband and I lost our second child to Trisomy 13. Our son successfully lived to full-term and lost his battle to a chromosomal disorder the night before he was scheduled for c-section. Delivering a stillborn child and planning for (likely) death while growing a life inside me was difficult and heartbreaking. I took a break from making art for nearly three years after losing our son, once I returned to the studio, I created work that explored the evidence of his existence and our family's loss. This image is a partial representation of the funeral flowers from his graveside burial.” . @libbymcfalls_artist . Thank you to Libby for sharing this incredibly moving piece with us and exhibiting ‘Evidence IV’ as part of our members show ‘re: birth’. You can see the show until Saturday 12th October. . . . . #babylossawarenessweek #trisomy13 #grief #motherhood #babylossawareness #loss #babylosscommunity #libbymcfalls #screenprint #collage #exhibition #motherartist #edinburgh #groupshow #spiktmilkgallery