Mother and Child

Digitized 16 mm colour film loop (5:29), monitor, USB drive, 2 maple wood cases (41 × 26 cm), soap, myrrh oil

The diptych Mother and Child consists of a film and a soap hand. The hand belongs to my mother and was cast in myrrh soap. I  washed myself  with it endlessly and filmed the various stages of its deformation. The film reveals how the hand gradually becomes smoother and more fragile, until eventually a finger breaks off.
The work is installed at abdominal height, allowing the hands in the film to visually align with those of the viewer. The space fills with the scent of myrrh from the soap hand; myrrh means “bitter,” and in the Bible it refers to the suffering of the child. It is a warm, enveloping fragrance that has historically symbolized deep love. In this way, the sensory experience resonates with the core of the work: mutual dependence, care, and love. At the same time, Mother and Child also addresses complex emotions such as suffering, dependence, and forgiveness.

I experienced  washing with my mother’s soap hand as a ritual of purification, arising from my desire to wash away pain from the past.
The work Mother and Child forms part of my ongoing artistic research into how emotions, experiences, and memories are stored in the body and set into motion. In my works, the body (or parts of it) acts as the interpreter of abstract ideas and as a site of meaning.

Made possible by: Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Mondriaanfonds

Installation photos: Gert Jan van Rooij

Camera: Onno Petersen