29: Turning the mundane experiences of motherhood into conceptual art with Sarah Irvin

Artist/Mother Podcast
Artist/Mother Podcast
29: Turning the mundane experiences of motherhood into conceptual art with Sarah Irvin
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Have you ever wondered how to directly incorporate your experience as a parent or caregiver into your art practice? This episode is rich with inspiration and encouragement from Sarah Irvin, a multidisciplinary artist and mother who makes work with ideas from her nights spent soothing her daughter in a rocking chair, hours spent breastfeeding and more. Before becoming a mother, Sarah actually believed the idea that it was nearly impossible to be an artist and parent. She decided to dismantle this belief and had a child during her MFA program, dedicating herself to making work about the experience.

Today, Sarah Irvin is practically an expert on parent artists! In 2016 she started the Artist Parent Index, a searchable index of artists making work about their experience with reproduction. We talk about this project and much more related to Sarah’s journey. Sarah holds an MFA from George Mason University and she has extensive experience showing her work in prominent galleries internationally including the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, VA, the Massey Klein Gallery in NYC, and Split Milk in Edinburgh Scotland.

Connect further with Sarah on Instagram @sarahirvinart or her website (https://sarahirvinart.com/home.html) and be sure to check out her amazing project Artist Parent Index on their website (http://www.artistparentindex.com) or IG @artistparentindex

Infant Feeding Log, 2018 Card catalogue with 2,435 unique platen-pressed forms, hand-set letterpress colophon, and title page on paper, hand-stamped with archival ink, metal rods, wooden base w/ milk paint, 7 x 78 1/4 inches Photo credit: Jon Paul Rodriguez
Infant Feeding Log (in progress), 2018
Infant Feeding Log (in progress), 2018
Infant Feeding Log (in progress), 2018
Sarah working in her home studio
Child Citizen: Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Paint matching the artist’s daughter’s bedroom walls, 32 inches tall, 2016
Rocking Chair Series Graphite on paper Approx 7.5′ x 17′ 2014 – 2015 Photo Credit: Photo credit: Jon Paul Rodriguez
Rocking Chair Series Graphite on paper Approx 7.5′ x 17′ 2014 – 2015 Photo Credit: Photo credit: Jon Paul Rodriguez
Sarah and her daughter installing work
Toy Archive, cyanotypes, 2016-2019

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