"All true art does not separate technique from expression; technique corresponds to what art expresses, and therefore, it is not something artificial that is learned and adapted to an expression but is indissolubly linked to it." (Hélio Oiticica, 1972)
The question of technique can be a central one for mothers who aim to stay with their children and continue making art. Just as there are many ways to be an artist, there are many ways to be a mother; It might be helpful to clarify that the mothers who have been meeting at the Soil Factory and have held two Art Shares so far are homeschooling and unschooling their children. Through this way of mothering, making art often becomes a shared activity, and we blur the limits between art and life almost to complete erasure.
Within the mother-child shared world, expression takes primacy, while technique must follow the speed of human physical development (in the case of children) and the (often limited) time-space possibilities for practice in highly disputed daily schedules (in the case of mothers but also of children who have to learn, grow and play so much!). Artistically, the best results of this scenario are the experimental attitude and the profoundly attuned sensibility shown by everyone involved, opening new pathways for play and dreams.
The following images document two Art Share encounters, which happened on April 3, when only mothers showed their work, and then on June 5, when mothers and children exhibited their creations.
Art Share is an alternative pop-up platform for exhibiting art held in groups at the Soil Factory. Through it, we create space for artists of all practices to talk about and show their work. The first Art Share group was created in 2024 with adults only, meeting every third Monday of the month, 5-7 PM. This second Art Share group is forming within another project titled Play Propagate, which meets every Thursday morning to plant two garden plots at the Soil Factory with children. We decided to hold an Art Share on the first Thursday of each month and to include children's participation.
Art Share - April 3, 2025:
We exhibited all the works assembled on a blanket on the floor, with each artist sitting next to their work.
Laura Ballard showed two pillowcases made of fabric that she dyed, with imagery chosen to symbolize the animals and plants participating in her family life. She spoke about her trajectory with fiber art after having children, and the importance of making objects for her house instead of purchasing them.
Marie De Mott Grady played a traditional Irish song and talked about experiencing music within family traditions and as a lifelong search for one’s heritage.
Amanda Heidel exhibited her latest experiments with threading natural fiber and using photography to document her art-making processes while caring for her daughter. She spoke about making work that children can manipulate, play with, and easily dispose of.
I brought various works on cotton canvas, including a continuation of “Food for the Spirit” that I had previously shown with the first Art Share group. In this new iteration, I propose that people create a circle to dance together. With the children, the dance became a tug of war game, a challenge to run together through the field, and then a floppy shelter on the ground.
Art Share - June 5, 2025:
Helena Faccion Grodzki started the Art Share singing a beautiful song of her own creation. She envisioned the whole presentation setting and introduced herself on stage. Her song spoke about trusting that the world gives us all we need to realize our dreams.
Amanda Heidel showed new work done with paper and mushrooms. She presented the work in a box and asked us to take them in our hands and tell her what we thought of it. We talked about ways to exhibit it and enjoyed testing its sound and texture. We laughed noticing that the wrap Peter was eating looked like some of Amanda's pieces.
Nimai showed us a song he is learning on the cello. He was playful and shared the instrument with everyone after playing. Helena and Nimai played briefly, improvising a song together, he on the cello and she singing.
Chelsea Starkweather proposed as an art experiment that people fly as birds. The idea to promptly start moving as if we could fly presented as a challenge to most, but Helena and Mae joined the proposition in play running and flying around the field.
Marie De Mott Grady brought a piece of fabric she has been sewing for over one year with a group of women to create a quilt for her third child. She spoke about the joy of making this work collectively and the logistics of sewing by hand and carrying parts of the project in her bag while being with the children in various activities.
I brought the two paintings I finalized this week, in which I’m exploring a new technique, sewing different canvases before stretching them. In these paintings, I’m using various canvases painted by children at the Soil Factory last summer. Exploring the human figure figuratively is a new endeavor in my practice.
