Portfolio > Artistic Beginnings: Dashed Dreams

pensive mother holding infant, light behind hair
Suburban Mom
oil on panel
30 x 22"
1999

My mother’s narrative written in Cindy's baby book says that Cindy’s “slow start” was diagnosed as cerebral palsy at six months. Her little girl had little strength or muscle tone. “Suburban Mom” is painted on wood panel reminiscent of early Renaissance portraits. I envision Anita, my mother, as the archetypal Madonna, a holy woman who intuits her child’s death. Her vacant eyes contrast with the baby’s penetrating gaze and light reflects off her dress shining a halo behind her upswept hair. There is no ascension for this wounded woman. This human Madonna suffers an unrelenting and understandable decline into depression