Mother or Artist – How About Both?
- slingshotmagazine
- Feb 7, 2019
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 11, 2019
by Jekaterina Drozdovica
In the UK, March 31st is Mother’s Day. But whilst we will celebrate our mothers then, the fact remains that in many professions, including the art world, having children is stigmatised. “I think most female artists are worried about the idea that one would have to divide attention between making art which is all-consuming, and caring for a child, which is also all-consuming,” says New York-based artist and sculptor Hein Koh.
In 2015, Koh’s photo of her simultaneously breastfeeding her five-month-old twins while working on a laptop went viral on social media. The picture was a response to Marina Abramovič’s comments that children hold female artists back. “Motherhood has made me stronger, more motivated and more focussed in my practice. I have no time to waste or to think about the bullshit that I used to ruminate on,” Koh tells Slingshot.
She says overcoming stigma is the key in liberating female artists to make an informed choice. “We need to understand that it is possible to be both a good artist and a good mother, and we need to dispel the stereotype that those two things are diametrically opposed.”
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