New Prints + The Art of Breastfeeding at MF Gallery

| Raeleen Kao

The Art of Breastfeeding

Modern Narratives of Motherhood

MF Gallery
213 Bond St.
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Opening Reception this Saturday, March 10
7-10 PM

Exhibition runs March 10 – April 22.  Following the opening reception, the gallery will be open by appointment.  Please contact info@MFGallery or (917) 446-8681

“In honor of International Women’s Month, MF Gallery is hosting an art show that explores the joys, challenges, and body-politics of breastfeeding and motherhood in the 21st century.”
-Exerpt from the Facebook Event Page

This group exhibition was curated by Leigh Pennebaker, founder of the instagram account @breastfeedingart and Martina Secondo Russo of MF Gallery.  I will be present at the opening reception, if you are in the area please come say hello!  Scroll down for images of the prints I will have available through MF Gallery.  Inquiries for purchase can be made through info@MFGallery.net
A portion of all proceeds will benefit La Leche League

This exhibition also features work by:  Nicoz Balboa, Christa David, Jess Dobkin, Debbies Grahl, Marina Font, Geertje Geertsma, Aimee Gilmore, Jenna Gribbon, Samantha Hahn, Sigal Arad Inbar, Kasey Jones, Lucy Knisley, Rachel Marcotte, Tara McPherson, Anna Melo, Jenny Middleton, April Rose, Martina Secondo Russo, Debra Sheldon, SWOON, Lexx Valdez, Anna Wiggins, Megan Wynne

The role of motherhood has been one of the strongest sources of inspiration and historical research since I began making art.  The majority of my work surrounding motherhood has been about loss and damage to the female reproductive system which has affected myself and the women around me.  For the past year and a half, I have been working on a series of prints and drawings named, Poetics of Blood and Milk, which are based on the antiquated belief that blood in the womb traveled to the breast where it changed to milk and that afflictions to the womb or breast, such as cancer, were transferable through breast milk.  This false belief meant that the breast milk of women given these diagnoses was considered to be toxic to a nursing child.

The prints that I created for this exhibition are a response to the depictions of mastectomies and lumpectomies in my most recent work and explore the breast not as a taker of life, but as a giver and a source of healing.

CURE

Etching, aquatint, chine colle, hand-painted pearlescence
Image:  4 x 4 inches
Paper:  8 x8 inches
Edition:  9
2018
$250
Contact info@MFGallery.net for purchase

The first of two new prints I made for this exhibition is the etching, Cure.  There is a long record of the benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and child, including antibodies in breast milk that fight off viruses and bacteria; a lowered risk of breastfed infants developing asthma and allergies; and fewer reports of respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and digestive issues.  Last year in Sweden, a protein called alpha-lactalbumim, which is present in breast milk, was discovered to transform into a cancer-fighting compound when present in the gut.  The substance has already been recorded to produce tumor cell death in bladder cancer and is currently being studied for bowel and cervical cancer as well.

NO NECTAR MORE DIVINE

Two variations available

8 layer reduction woodcut with hand-painted gold
10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition:  10
2018

$250
Contact info@MFGallery.net for purchase

8 layer reduction woodcut with hand-painted gold
7 1/2 inches x 5 3/4 inches
Edition:  10
2018
$250
Contact info@MFGallery.net for purchase

The second new print is a woodcut, No Nectar More Divine (Below).  In Greek mythology, Paean was a physician to the gods and used a peony root to heal Hades in Homer’s Odyssey.  Medieval medicine used the root and seeds of the peony to cure a variety of diseases and even snake bites.  Peony root necklaces were given to children to prevent epilepsy because of its antispasmodic qualities and to help teething pain.  White peony extract is still used in traditional Chinese medicine.