George Mason University's Center for the Arts

In the history of art, Madonna and child images are idealized and cropped at the waist.  The menacing blood and fluids of childbirth - the irreverence of the body - is thrust outside the picture frame.  Safety is maintained by editing the scene.  But when I was pregnant, I wanted to see birth unedited. So I began to paint it.  I asked women for photographs of their births. Each photograph added another piece to the puzzle, and as I painted these births,
I learned more about the unseeable moments.  My thesis show presents these works as a series investigating labor, childbirth, and postpartum.  During my exhibit, there will also be a symposium providing context for the work: "Perinatal: A Symposium on Birth Practices and Reproductive Rights" (www.birthsymposium.com).

The graduate thesis shows are required of graduating MFA students.  They are meant to tie in with a written thesis.  Students typically show recent work, which is a culmination of growth and distillation of ideas developed over their two (or more) years at GMU. Some MFA students, however, choose to show works which are an overview of all the time they've spent here.