Domestic Labour, Repetition and Acts of Care in Art Making

This MFA Thesis Project explores how repetitive domestic labour in the home, predominantly carried out by women and in particular my experience as mother and caregiver informs my MFA research. The Thesis Project artworks range in scale from small handheld intimate embroidered textile pieces to large abstract paintings created on my kitchen floor with tools such as brooms, toilet brushes and rags that are commonly associated with women’s work. I use a minimal colour palette of black, greys and gold to highlight the sombre and never ending actions of daily domestic maintenance. By giving the marks presence and weight, I am demanding that they be acknowledged and the audience feels the relentlessness of activities that never seem complete. I incorporate concepts addressed by artists such as Mierle Laderman Ukeles and her documentation of invisible labour as well as Janine Antoni who physically put herself into the act of art making with her body. Ultimately, my practice draws on these artistic influences to generate artwork that speaks to my lived experience as an artist, mother and caregiver.