#04 MOTHER
This image with less defined patterns and structure dedicated to my mother. It is very soft and multifaced. Like the person with so many talents and experience, at the same time, so kind and gentle.
I am writing this text today, May 8th, 2022. International mother’s day. Today’s work I will dedicate to my mother. To the person that shapes me a lot. Without who I wouldn`t become who I am. In both ways. Nature and nurture.
My mother gives me my genes. With them, I got most of my abilities and potential. It brings me to birth in the place where I grew up. The place that gives me my background and context. The place that gives me direction in my life.
She also gives me meaning and perspective. The perspectives I am always talking about. The way I see the world and reflect on it. Her perspective is one of the most significant in complementing my father’s. My mind was shaped by this way of interacting with the environment. At the time when I was not able to navigate and question the world around me. The time when I did not have enough agency to take responsibility for my life.
My mother will turn 60 this year. And I am very grateful to her for how they choose to let me grow. I grew without many restrictions but with the idea of responsibility—the way in which I was able to pick and form my opinion of things. In the environment where I was treated as equal to grown-ups. I also wish I could help my family more when I was a kid. I wish I could spend more time with my mother now. Especially when I isolate from the world by locking down in Shanghai. The time when Russia became more and more isolated from other countries. In the 21t century, travel is becoming a new luxury. We are getting less and less connected. We are still close enough, but we are out of reach from each other. Sometimes I feel myself on the moon by being on earth.
I chose this image to dedicate to my mother. This image has less defined patterns and structure. This image is very soft and multifaced. That is how I see my mother. The person with so many talents and experience, at the same time, so kind and gentle. Each of the slight emergent patterns on the image traces her experience in life. This image is also very dynamic as my relationship with my mother. There was a time when we couldn’t find a common language between us. When we learned and tried to understand each other, times of conflict led us to more close relationships and empathy.
‘Mother’ is the first word most of us learn and speak out in our life. I am still fascinated by how universal it is for many languages. Languages that have different origins. Maybe, this word and concept allow us to create the language from the beginning. The first concept we can communicate with the surrounding others. ‘Mother,’ ‘мама (mama/Russian),’ ‘妈妈 (mama/Chinese)’ sound pretty similar in very different cultures and traditions. This simple part can show us—we have much in common.
I hope this image will change over time, change not visually, but get more details and perspectives with the people whose lives it will affect.