Caitlin Akers
Itchy
The birth of my two children has marked a significant shift in my artistic process. I now find myself immersed in brief, intense bursts of creative energy. It is within these moments that I have created ‘The Witching Hours’ a series of text works in letterpress print. The work serves as an intimate reflection on various aspects of my journey as a caregiver for a small child, an artist parent and the challenges posed by childhood illness. The title of the series is a reference to the evening period with young children where they are tired and irritable. It also happens to be the hours when artists gather for previews to socialise and do business and crucially a time that artist parents are isolated from.
The intentional wiping technique used in the prints communicates the constant wiping down of surfaces or children, a familiar and repetitive domestic act. It also pays homage to Mierle Laderman Ukeles' piece "Washing, Tracks, Maintenance: Outside 1973" where the artist scrubbed the steps of the Wadsworth Atheneum museum to highlight the ongoing commitment and labour required in both sustaining an artistic practice through motherhood and the act of caring for children.
