MATRESCENCE: MOTHER BECOMING

By Diana Bejarano

on view:
Wednesday, August 20th - Tuesday, August 26th

opening reception:
Wednesday, August 20th | 6PM

The transformation into motherhood has been the most profound, existential, radicalizing, and sacred experience I have gone through. Matrescence: Mother Becoming is a project that, with the use of photography, textiles, and threads, explores the metamorphosis of new motherhood. Self-portraits are intervened through cutting, sewing, embroidering, and tearing apart to reflect on the physical, mental, and shifting identities that are rarely outspoken in mainstream and are part of the women's experience. Ultimately, it is a homage to new motherhood with everything the journey brings to each woman.

about the artist:
Diana Bejarano is a photographer and visual artist living in Queens, New York. In her artistic practice, she uses photography and mixed media with a personal and community approach to develop projects that can open up spaces for collective reflection and healing. I explore themes of immigration, family separation, gender violence and motherhood.

This exhibition is made possible by a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

FREE WORKSHOP | Thursday, August 21st 5-7PM
Photo-Embroidery: Memory in Stitches
A hands-on workshop led by Alejandra Mejia Torres that re-signifies embroidery and photography as visual storytelling. We’ll stitch directly over printed photographs, layering color, texture, and symbols with simple stitches. No experience needed. Free with rsvp.

Alejandra Mejía Torres is a Colombian, NYC-based textile artist and educator. Her practice treats the threads as a “diary of thoughts,” as well as an act of healing, where each stitch holds memory and communal care; reinterpreting symbols of femininity and Latina identity through beads and embroidery.