JAYNE MATRICARDI: MOTHERSCAPE

Oratory
video installation, 8 x 14 feet, 2020
duration: 3 min

In my video installation, Oratory, the repetition and rhythm of knitting references the seemingly endless tasks of mothering. The delicate hand gestures speak to mothers’ gentle tending and tiny acts of care which accumulate over time and amount to something much larger, like knit and purl stitches in a blanket. Along with the inextricable linking of myself to my children as they were raised, I simultaneously felt an acute connection to mothers who came before me — as if my life were simply one small stitch, intertwined in a string of lives lived. The layered imagery of trees and stream reference finding refuge in nature from the stress and pressure of motherhood. Through this video I wanted to create an atmosphere and space of contemplation, where one can return to the earth, self, body and breath.