The Mother Lode Recap
Bigger and bolder than we ever could have imagined!
On Friday, March 20 over 200 people gathered at Recess Studio to celebrate the opening of Mother Lode: a three day exhibition featuring over 30 artists, five live performances and two in-person healing activations.
Curated and produced by Recess co-founder Elizabeth Rudge, and The Fold’s founder, Amanda Carter Gomes, the works presented spanned mediums, and the artists spanned generations. Participants and attendees were invited to experience the joy, pain, levity, grief, and anger conjured through the prompt Rudge provided as inspiration for this event:
“I have been in deep thought about what it means to have this reproductive system (or have lost it) and the unending responsibility it is to live with it. What it means to keep fighting for body autonomy. To keep fighting for people to research our bodies to understand more the meeting of the mind and its physical form. What it means to be a “mother”. Or our relationships to our “mother”, our feminine ancestral lines. The generations of secrets and shame. And the moments of joy that go hand in hand with the heaviness as well.I would love to create a show into our inner minds and stories in whatever way feels right to tell.”
What happened next exceeded all expectations, people moved outside their comfort zones and created art in forms and through channels they had not worked in before. A writer made a hand-stitched flag; one photographer wrote a poem, another photographer created a layered, life-sized portrait printed on tissue paper; a glass artist and a fiber artists collaborated on a large installation, and more. There were readings of personal stories and poetry, a young sister duo who danced and sang, Kisha Vaughan graced with a performance and then DJ Play Pranks kept us on the dance floor until closing time. We are still riding the high from the night and now inspired to take this show on the road!
Until then, please enjoy snaps from the event….and if you live in a location that would benefit from a Mother Lode visit, please let us know in the comments. You can also check out a video of the event on Instagram.
Thank you to the artists, those who joined us for the opening party, and the roughly 400 people who made it to Mother Lode over the 3 day exhibition. Thanks also to our friends at Alaffia for the GOOD soaps and SYA for the resource materials. And thank you to Parlour Wines for popping up with beverage offerings. If Mother Lode confirmed anything it’s that we will save us.