Exhibition period:
25.04.-26.05.2024
MOM/WOW/MOM
Monica Vegstein, Malin Westermann, Sara Sanderud
In the exhibition “MOM/WOW/MOM,” three photographers explore motherhood from various perspectives. Sara Sanderud, Monica Larsen Vegstein and Malin Westermann delve into the complexity and different dimensions of parenthood, from wanting to have children, transitioning to parenthood, and experiencing what it means to be a mother.
In Summer with Monica photographer Monica Larsen Vegstein presents a series of self-portraits, taken during a summer she spent with a friend and her four children at their summer house. The project is inspired by a story about Marilyn Monroe, who for a period of time moved into a house in her psychologist’s garden, with the aim of becoming integrated into his family life and relive emotions she had been deprived of in her upbringing and later life.
When the series was created, Larsen Vegstein was childless. Through the images, she seeks to understand and convey the complexity of family life and motherhood, and the unique love and belonging that can be found in such a union.
Where do the clouds come from? by Sara Sanderud focuses on the experience of presence as a new parent. Sanderud became a first-time mother during the COVID-19 pandemic. Isolated with her new family, she endured feelings of inadequacy and worry. Through photography, she found a shift in perspective:
“With the help of the camera, I could see more clearly, be more present, and wonder about life with the baby. I saw the stark contrasts between the calmness and chaos that came with her. Through the images, I highlight the seemingly small and insignificant things that really is the whole world for a new parent.”
Malin Westermann’s Matrescence is a personal exploration of the transition into motherhood.
“Pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood are among the most gripping, beautiful, and intimate experiences a human can have, but also the most claustrophobic, exhausting, and emotionally challenging. For a long time, I searched for mothers portrayed with the strength, rawness, and care that is inherent in us”
Westermann draws from her own personal experiences while also incorporating perspectives from other parents, offering a diverse range of views on motherhood.
