2024 MFA Exhibition: Clarice Cuda

2024 MFA Exhibition: Clarice Cuda “Motherforce”

MotherForce is a symbol of generative energy; an intersection of creative practice through the frame of motherhood. I examine the complexities of creative labor both transforming and informing identity. Here, my personal experience of giving birth serves as a catalyst which investigates the struggle and beauty that coexist with creation and mothering. In Cut, strips of black-painted canvas intertwine to form tightly gathered, repeating knots, creating a compact half dome that extends outward from the wall. The rounded shape mimics the form of a pregnant woman approaching childbirth. A cascade of black human hair interspersed with thin gray strands flows from its center while sharp precise angles underscore how growth and tension coexist within a single body. Cut’s fullness and repetition highlight the essence of fertility.