Mothering in the Dark: A Conversation with Molly & Rivkah
In this deeply personal episode of Behind the Studio Door, Molly discusses their upcoming duet exhibition with Rivkah Simcha. Mothering in the Dark is an intensely collaborative multidisciplinary art exhibition in which Molly and Rivkah present their non-traditional and raw experiences of motherhood. Their dialogue emphasizes the significance of artistic expression as a means of coping with the complexities of motherhood, and how the act of creation has become a form of survival for both of them.
Through their collaborative efforts, they aim to honor the tender and vulnerable aspects of motherhood that are rarely acknowledged in mainstream narratives, fostering a space for shared experiences and validation among mamas.
The show opens on August 28th 5-8pm at the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA) in Mount Morris. See you there!
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome back to another episode of behind the Studio Door.
Speaker B:I'm your host, Molly Darling.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for being here today.
Speaker B:I love just chatting with you.
Speaker B:I have my friend Rivka Simka here.
Speaker B:Hi.
Speaker B:Hi.
Speaker A:Thanks for having me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is your second time on the show.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Very exciting.
Speaker B:But we're talking about something totally different today.
Speaker A:We are, aren't we?
Speaker B:So Rivka and I have been working on something.
Speaker B:Birthing a baby of sorts.
Speaker B:We've got this duet exhibition coming up at Genesee Valley Council on the Arts opening Aug. 28 from 5 to 8pm Because I got to make sure that I put that plug in there before we get into, like, the depths of what we're talking about.
Speaker B:But our show is called Mothering in the Dark.
Speaker A:Before the contractions start.
Speaker A:You gotta get your words out.
Speaker B:Gotta get your words out.
Speaker B:Gotta get your breath in.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This show, I'm so excited and also very nervous because it's such a tender, beautiful thing that we've been making together.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:The idea came when you sent me some poetry, Right, that you had written.
Speaker B:Do you wanna talk about that a little bit?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:You know, I think about those poems and I think about the space I was in when I was writing them.
Speaker A:And it was such, like, a desperate, tender, like, isolated space I was in.
Speaker A:And now the fact that they're, you know, that we're working with them, it feels.
Speaker A:It feels great.
Speaker A:Just because it's.
Speaker A:It's so validating of.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That time that I spent writing, that was worth it.
Speaker A:It has led to this, like, collaboration with you and this connection and just the people we've been talking to who are really excited about the show, especially, like, other moms.
Speaker A:Like, it's so validating that.
Speaker B:That part.
Speaker B:So for those of you who don't know or haven't heard me talk about this before, this show is about my and Rivka's experiences of motherhood.
Speaker B:And particularly, like, the painful, tender, tender, vulnerable parts that you don't normally see in, like, the quote, unquote, traditional motherhood spaces.
Speaker B:You know, we're talking about the birthing process, the good, the bad, the ugly.
Speaker B:We're talking about our experiences with postpartum depression.
Speaker B:We're talking about, you know, how I have to be separated from my kids a lot, and that's really hard.
Speaker B:And how sometimes being around our kids too much is really hard.
Speaker B:And, like, you know, there's all these.
Speaker B:This beautiful light that comes in through the cracks, but there's also just a lot of stuff yeah.
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And there's all the things that we did in the moment because we had to survive, like making art.
Speaker A:Like, I just remember, like, you know, my.
Speaker A:My oldest would nap, and then, like, I immediately was like, oh, it's art time.
Speaker A:It's writing time.
Speaker A:How can I process, like, all these things I'm feeling?
Speaker A:And, you know, without really intending to show it, you know, it was like making art just to stay alive.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And now that.
Speaker A:And working with you and knowing that we're gonna be able to really share just feels like such a wonderful honoring of, like, the people we were at that time.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that we survived.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We're here.
Speaker B:Cheers.
Speaker B:We survived.
Speaker B:Cheers.
Speaker A:We survived.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:No, I really resonate with that idea of art as survival, especially as a new mom.
Speaker B:Like, that postpartum depression for me hit really hard, and I didn't know what it was the first time.
Speaker B:And I was like, oh, this just must be normal, that I feel all of these dark thoughts.
Speaker B:Thoughts and feelings.
Speaker B:Maybe this is just, you know, but processing through it with art was the way that I gave myself a lifeline.
Speaker B:Like, just like you.
Speaker B:The baby would fall asleep on me, and I had, like, you know, post it notes and crayons, and it was like, this is my space, and I'm just gonna scribble and write whatever words that come down, you know?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B: ose poems you wrote, like, in: Speaker A: Or maybe: Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:They're really beautiful, and they really.
Speaker B:They really inspired me to.
Speaker B:You sent them to me, and I was like, oh, this is it.
Speaker B:Like, unlike Unlocked, that part of me that was like, oh, I haven't really made art yet that I've shared publicly about these types of themes.
Speaker B:What's that process been like for you, like, working together and collaborating?
Speaker B:Because I know we've had our separate processes of thinking.
Speaker B:Thinking about these themes of motherhood, but what's it been like to, like, work with me?
Speaker A:You know, when you kind of approached me with this idea, it just felt so correct.
Speaker A:Like, yes, I, like, I've made some art about my experience of being a mom.
Speaker A:I have made art about the miscarriage I had.
Speaker A:And that felt really, like, important and cathartic.
Speaker A:But to collaborate with someone else who's been through this experience just feels like we're joining these forces in this way that's validating.
Speaker A:And these are stories that don't really, I think, get taken seriously by the status quo as much.
Speaker A:I think we really get Delegated to, like, you know, moms are just the default parents who, like, do all these things.
Speaker A:It's so natural for women to, like, want to have children and love it.
Speaker A:Just, like, the discourse around it right now is really just kind of.
Speaker A:It renders invisible just the nuance and, like, how human.
Speaker A:We're still human beings.
Speaker A:We're still people who have needs.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Let's talk about, like, you said the phrase how natural it is for what to automatically, like, that was kind of the story that I was told was, when you're a mom, like, the baby's gonna come out and you're gonna instantly love them, and you're gonna instantly feel bonded to them.
Speaker B:It's gonna be magical.
Speaker B:And, yes, there were moments of that, but there were far more moments where I was like, why did no one talk to me about this?
Speaker B:Why did no one talk to me about how traumatic it was gonna be on my body and that I was going to have to, you know, be recovering very actively while also very actively having to figure out what it's like to care for this living being.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's just like the.
Speaker A:These unspoken, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Speaker A:You'll figure it out.
Speaker A:Like, but what if.
Speaker A:Help.
Speaker A:Helping.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What if it wasn't unspoken?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:And we're speaking it.
Speaker A:That's what we're doing.
Speaker A:And I think it's already, again, like, there have been people talking to us at various openings we've been at throughout the city who are so excited, who are, like, saving the date, who are like, I can't wait to, like, see what I've been through also mirrored in this.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's awesome.
Speaker B:Yeah, it is really awesome.
Speaker B:I want to talk a little bit, too, about our process, like, how.
Speaker B:What it's looked like, because in the beginning, we were like, okay, so we've got these poems.
Speaker B:Got this stuff.
Speaker B:But I love how it's become this very intensely collaborative process.
Speaker B:Like, it's not just a duet show where we're putting our separate work that we've made separately next to each other.
Speaker B:We're sitting in your attic every weekend and making things together.
Speaker B:And maybe I'm putting some collage on this piece, and then I'm passing it back over to you, and then you're passing me this piece, and it's been really fun.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's really been womb.
Speaker A:Like, it's like we're twins in, like, Mama Art's womb.
Speaker A:I think one thing I've really learned from working with you is that it's it's okay for it to be a mess, you know, and, like.
Speaker A:And I can really get.
Speaker A:Be critical of myself when I'm by myself in that isolated space.
Speaker A:And, you know, I.
Speaker A:But it's been nice to feel the validation of, like, no, like, you're gonna figure it out.
Speaker A:Like, put that one down.
Speaker A:Like, that's been really nice.
Speaker A:I feel like our processes are really similar, which has been.
Speaker A:There's congruence and, like, really just positive flow.
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker B:Yeah, I. I appreciate that, too.
Speaker B:I. I mean, it definitely helps me to lean more into allowing it be messy when it's, like.
Speaker B:It's so easy to get in your head when you're just sitting in your own space and you're like, is this good?
Speaker B:Is this what I want it to be?
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:We don't really have time for that.
Speaker A:No, we don't.
Speaker A:No, ma'.
Speaker A:Am.
Speaker B:It kind of feels like motherhood in an ironic way.
Speaker B:It's like, I don't really have time to overthink a lot of this stuff.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I'm just here.
Speaker B:I'm just making it right.
Speaker B:Has it been like that for you too?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:And it helps disrupt my patterns that I kind of can fall into without awareness.
Speaker A:But I think having you there, it's just, like.
Speaker A:It makes me more aware of the moment, more aware of just what.
Speaker A:What it's like to work back and forth, and it gives me the opportunity to get to know you and your process, and that's just been really.
Speaker A:I'm grateful for that.
Speaker B:Yeah, same.
Speaker B:I mean, I've been.
Speaker B:I've been really challenged by you in a lot of ways, in a good way, like, because I've.
Speaker B:I've actually been having this realization as we've gone through this process, and it's great because we haven't talked about it yet, where I've been making a lot of abstract work for a long time, and I'm actually trained really well in doing realism.
Speaker B:And for whatever reason, I've just shied away from that for, like, years and years.
Speaker B:And I've been uncovering this part of me that's just been afraid to get back into it, you know, and you have some really beautiful realism and things like that that weave into the abstraction, and it's almost been like a subtle.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker B:Not competition, but a little bit where I'm just like, oh, okay.
Speaker B:No, you're, like, inspiring me to do better.
Speaker B:You know, Like, I'm like, oh, you painted this beautiful thing that I'm not going to fully Describe right now, because it's a surprise, but you painted this big, beautiful figure, for lack of a better term, and you sent me the image, and I was like, holy.
Speaker B:I literally showed it to Christian and was like, this is amazing.
Speaker B:I want to be able to make stuff like this again.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, this is so awesome.
Speaker B:You're like, yeah, this is, like, a full day's work.
Speaker B:Don't show anybody.
Speaker B:It's gonna be a surprise for the show, and it will be.
Speaker B:You guys are gonna be blown away.
Speaker B:It's awesome.
Speaker B:But, like, so in that way, I'm glad that I've been able to give you the gift of, like, leaning out into the messiness a little bit, because I feel like you've yin and yang given me the gift of, like, leaning in a little more and, like, focusing a little more on honing the details and really not just throwing my hands up and being like, okay, well, just, like, call it done, because that can sometimes be what I do.
Speaker B:I've appreciated the second pair of eyes and the being like, yeah, but, like, what are we really trying to say, you know, with this piece and where are we going?
Speaker B:You know, we have two large pieces that we've been passing back and forth, and one of them is pretty close to done, I think, and I'm very proud of it because it feels like it's very close to the vision that I actually had of it when we started with the imagery.
Speaker B:There's, like, some nest stuff, and there's some bloody stuff, and you guys will see when you come to the show.
Speaker B:But the other one is still, like, we're not really sure where she's at or who she is or what the fuck.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm excited for us to work on that some more.
Speaker A:I just want to say thank you.
Speaker A:I appreciate the yin Yang vibe.
Speaker A:Like, I'm fully in that.
Speaker A:Like, we're giving and taking and giving, and it's cycling, and I think we're both really growing as artists in this.
Speaker B:And I'm just grateful for it.
Speaker B:Yeah, you're welcome.
Speaker B:I hope.
Speaker B:I feel like this is the opening portal into so much more.
Speaker B:Like, I just feel like we're scratching the surface with this show in a way.
Speaker B:Do you feel that way, too, or does it feel like.
Speaker B:I mean, you've also made a lot more work about motherhood that you've shown.
Speaker B:Like, so you've kind of practiced and titrated that out in the open, and I feel like I'm like, okay, well, I'm just, like, holding Rivka's hand and jumping into the, like, sharing these vulnerable bits about motherhood.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, what's that experience been like for you?
Speaker A:It feels really good.
Speaker A:I feel like, not alone.
Speaker A:It's nice to.
Speaker A:I think it would be harder to do a show like this alone for me, like a full on.
Speaker A:I've definitely shown work around, like, my experience of motherhood, my experience of losing a pregnancy, like what it's like to have been pregnant after losing a pregnancy was, you know, I've touched it.
Speaker A:But to have a whole show, the fact that people want to come to a show by like two moms who, you know, have struggled and are struggling just blows me away.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You know, so.
Speaker A:But to be able to stand with you and not by myself just feels like very safe and solid and it's like, we have a good team going.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because it's vulnerable to do it by yourself.
Speaker B:It's vulnerable as fuck.
Speaker A:You know, it's hard and it's hard for me to shut off.
Speaker A:Like, do people really want to hear, like, these stories?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You know, I. I have those thoughts all the time too.
Speaker B:I like, I look at the work and I'm like, are people gonna be grossed out by this?
Speaker B:Like, are people gonna want to talk about this?
Speaker B:But I keep coming back to what you mentioned, that there's all these moms coming out of the woodwork, like artist moms and otherwise, who were like, I am so glad you're talking about this.
Speaker B:Holy crap.
Speaker B:I'm so glad you're going to show work about this.
Speaker B:And I. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might just spark a lot more art, not just ours, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Especially of the moms who are going to come and be inspired by our vulnerability in our process.
Speaker B:Like, that's my hope.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But I'm very encouraged by the fact that, yeah, it seems like people are interested and ready to talk about it.
Speaker A:Totally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do you want to talk a little bit more about, like, in the lead up to this, what are some of the tender things for you with motherhood that you've felt like, you know, you just can't not make art about it because it's felt like things that you've just had to put on the table.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think so much of it is just what the internal landscape becomes when all of a sudden you have all these demands placed upon you just by the people in your life and by, you know, obviously, the needs of your child and the way motherhood is characterized on social media.
Speaker A:The way the things people choose and curate to, like, share out, you know, can be just as curated.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:To give a certain.
Speaker A:To give certain information and to leave out other information.
Speaker A:And of course, like, everyone's story is their own and everyone's journey is their own.
Speaker A:And, you know, nobody owes anybody.
Speaker A:People can choose what they share.
Speaker A:But I think for me, what I want to get at is just how, like, monstrous it can feel sometimes.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:You know, just.
Speaker A:It's not.
Speaker A:Doesn't always feel natural.
Speaker A:It can feel really, really overwhelming and scary and dark.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:And that's pretty aligned with the kind of art I like to make anyway.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:But living it is hard.
Speaker A:Was hard.
Speaker A:It is hard.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I really like that you said that.
Speaker B:Like, it's not the curated version.
Speaker B:Because social media shows these, like, snapshots.
Speaker B:Even my social media, when you see pictures of me and my kids, I'll sometimes get comments from people like, oh, I love that you're working so well with your co parent.
Speaker B:Or I love that it seems like you guys are doing, like, everything's great.
Speaker B:And it's like, yeah, there are joyful moments, but it's also really hard.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's really challenging that I don't get to be with my kids every day.
Speaker B:Like, you know, absolutely.
Speaker B:That sucks.
Speaker B:I don't, you know, and they're getting older, so that's an another interesting part for me where it's like, okay, now we're not in the baby phase anymore.
Speaker B:And then I feel a longing for the baby phase.
Speaker B:But then I also remember the things about the baby phase that were so difficult.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like, you know, nursing on social media, it's like, oh, yeah, it's so great.
Speaker B:It's so much fun.
Speaker B:And it's like, yeah, sometimes.
Speaker B:But also, sometimes you're doubled over in pain with mastitis because you have a clogged fucking duct and you can't get the milk out.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Mastitis is brutal.
Speaker A:I would prefer birthing to mastitis.
Speaker B:Same.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:I'm like, yeah, let's have a forum about mastitis pain versus birth pain.
Speaker B:Because, yeah, all kinds of pain and weird stuff too, that happens.
Speaker B:Like, I remember going through the birthing process and.
Speaker B:And I'm also realizing right now I'm like, struggling to not apologize to our audience for how gross this is gonna get too.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like, but it's not.
Speaker B:It's just as, like, part of the process, you know?
Speaker B:Like, when I was going through the birthing process, nobody told me that I would have to also birth a placenta.
Speaker B:Like, like, the nurses were like, okay, you know, push again.
Speaker B:Like, this is after the baby's already out.
Speaker B:Push again.
Speaker B:And I'm like, why?
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker B:I literally had no idea.
Speaker B:Like, that's the level of just like ignorance that I had because no one had told me.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That's so wrong.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And the placenta where the baby's held is such a beautiful thing too.
Speaker B:Like, it's so life giving, but it's just.
Speaker B:It was just one of the.
Speaker B:One of the many things in motherhood that you're like, oh, I'm supposed to find this out on my own.
Speaker B:And why are we.
Speaker B:Why are we expected to find these things out in isolation?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That was a massive miss on the part of your care team that you weren't in.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:I'm so sorry that happened.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was just a wild.
Speaker B:And it's a funny story to me now because.
Speaker B:But, like, at the time it was like, what the fuck?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, the placenta aspect is interesting because in my first experience, my placenta was just discarded without it being shown to me or acknowledged that it was out.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:And I was really out of it.
Speaker A:I was in labor for like 36 hours and I was just exhausted, you know, and it was just like, goodbye, placenta.
Speaker A:But I was like, I grieved that.
Speaker A:Like, that entire.
Speaker A:That was like an organ that grew in my body alongside my baby that, you know, I wanted to at least be able to acknowledge.
Speaker A:So then my second time around, shout out to my doulanella.
Speaker A:She, like, took 72 pictures of it and, like, made sure the midwife showed it to me.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I was healing.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:I also had a midwife, Julia, shout out to Julia.
Speaker B:Shout out to the doulas.
Speaker B:And the midwives, they're doing seriously the best work.
Speaker B:But the same thing where I knew about it and I was like, I'm not going to save it, but I do want to see it.
Speaker B:And it was the same thing.
Speaker B:I have all these pictures, which is I'm so thankful for because.
Speaker B:Yeah, what a beautiful.
Speaker B:It literally looks like a tree of life.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And it feeds your baby and it houses your baby.
Speaker B:And then it's like this transient thing that's just gone question mark.
Speaker A:We gotta paint a placenta.
Speaker B:Apparently.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I have 72 pictures.
Speaker B:I'm realizing this.
Speaker B:Why haven't we made a giant placenta painting?
Speaker B:All right, well, we're gonna add that to the list for the show.
Speaker B:We still have A month.
Speaker B:We've got time.
Speaker B:We do.
Speaker B:I want to back.
Speaker B:Back out a little bit to like our process and how this has grown us as, as moms.
Speaker B:Because I feel like it's really the fact that we're making this work has changed my experience as a mom too.
Speaker B:Have you found that to be true at all or.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, it makes me.
Speaker A:It's making me feel appreciative of the journey that took.
Speaker A:That I took to get here.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:From like this messiness.
Speaker A:And I'm, you know, I'm constantly trying to be more present for my kids and to just be a better mom.
Speaker A:Like, I feel like I'm constantly like being mindful of when I'm losing my temper and like making sure I'm doubling back and like apologizing and being present with my kids in this way, putting down my phone, being more like in the one to one.
Speaker A:But I think this work has really showed me that I've done a lot of transforming to get to where I am and just to like, give like big gratitude to like what it took to get here.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's cool.
Speaker B:It's beautiful to be able to honor those parts and like those aspects of us that have been through the process, you know, and we're like, I honor you, 23 year old who had this child who had no idea what she was doing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's wild.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we just talked about so many things.
Speaker B:And to remind everyone, Mothering in the Dark is going to be a multimodal art exhibition that's happening at GVCA Genesee Valley Council on the Arts in Mount Morris.
Speaker B:August 28, 5 to 8pm Thursday night.
Speaker B:Come on out.
Speaker A:Mark your calendars.
Speaker B:Mark your calendars.
Speaker B:Come out.
Speaker B:I hear there's going to be live music.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:They're going to hire some live music for us.
Speaker B:But we're also talking about having some sort of performance aspect.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:We have all these words that we've written.
Speaker A:Molly is a writer, I'm a writer.
Speaker A:We both love to sing.
Speaker A:And I just remember when I was actually birthing, like what would help is really low kind of singing.
Speaker A:So I think we have to sing.
Speaker B:I think you gotta sing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:That's such a beautiful, somatic practice too.
Speaker B:I have, I still, I sing whenever I'm stressed.
Speaker B:Like that moves like pain through your body.
Speaker B:Yes, almost.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:So I feel like it would be a really important component to not want to leave out.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we're also gonna have an artist talk at on one Saturday.
Speaker A:It's to be determined is that we'll give more information when that comes.
Speaker A:But so there'll be plenty of opportunities to hear us and see us in that show.
Speaker A:And I think the Show's up until October 3rd.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So there will be lots of opportunities to see it.
Speaker B:And, you know, Again, it's mostly 2D work, but there are a couple non 2D pieces.
Speaker A:I'm excited for the 3D thing you're working on.
Speaker A:I think that's going to be really cool and impactful.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know if I even want to reveal what it is, because it's really cool.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Let's just say it's a concept that I've been thinking about for a while and I'm really excited to unveil it at the show.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, yeah.
Speaker B:And it's been cool to work in this multimodal way with you, too.
Speaker B:It's like we're painting, we're collaging, we're writing, we're singing, we're dancing while we're painting.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's been a really cool experience.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think that you're going to see a lot of great texture, I think, unexpected textures.
Speaker A:It's been cool watching you, Molly, rip up prints to use.
Speaker A:Like, that's been awesome.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:We started this whole process.
Speaker B:You're a resident right now at Flower City Arts.
Speaker B:I get to be a resident soon, which is really exciting.
Speaker B:And we started by making a bunch of monoprints.
Speaker B:So we were just doing that.
Speaker B:I had this stack of monoprints that I have started ripping up and then collaging onto other pieces, including paintings that you've had for a really long time, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Like, we've got one that you made in high school that we're now retooling to be part of this show.
Speaker B:And that's been kind of a cool, transformative way of physically taking an image that you made before you were a mother.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And transforming her into some sort of mother imagery.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:It feels so correct.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, you know, I'm so happy to see that old work being transformed and you.
Speaker A:And you offered prints that you made when you were in college.
Speaker A:And to be able to use those have been really special.
Speaker A:But it's nice.
Speaker A:It's like the before and the after and the present.
Speaker A:It's really cool.
Speaker B:It's all literally being ripped apart and re synthesized into something new.
Speaker A:Kind of like our bodies after birth.
Speaker B:Good soup or something.
Speaker B:Spicy soup.
Speaker A:Spicy soup.
Speaker A:Spiciest.
Speaker B:The spiciest soup.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I'm excited for folks to come.
Speaker B:Anything else that you want to share about our process or our work?
Speaker A:I just really appreciate.
Speaker A:I think, printmaking.
Speaker A:It's been awesome being a resident at Flower City.
Speaker A:I am so excited for you to have that experience this fall.
Speaker A:Printmaking is wonderful.
Speaker A:It can be a very finicky, like, depending on how you see it.
Speaker A:Like, the perfect print has this kind of margin and, like, this kind of editioning and all this stuff.
Speaker A:But to make a print and just be able to, like, chop it up has been so therapeutic.
Speaker A:Like, when things don't come out perfectly, there's nobody.
Speaker A:There's nobody saying you can't just collage a print.
Speaker A:So to see you also in that is just so fun and so validating.
Speaker A:It's like, yeah, just like you always say it's all compost, Right?
Speaker A:Like, if it didn't come out perfect, that's fine.
Speaker B:We can rip it up and make something new and try again.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I love that you say that, because I also really value the process of destruction as a part of the creation process, you know, because you can't.
Speaker B:You can't have life without death and vice versa.
Speaker B:It's like that yin and yang compost, the whole soup of all of it.
Speaker B:So it's been really therapeutic, like you said, to take these prints that are beautiful on their own, but then to have that courage and trust moment to just, like, tear them up and use them for something else.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Use them to build, like, wings on this other piece, for example, or, you know, a belly shape or whatever else you might see.
Speaker A:So much trust.
Speaker A:So much trust.
Speaker A:And I feel like a lot of the paintings we've been working on are things that I made that I actually really like.
Speaker A:But, like, have always felt like they were never quite finished.
Speaker A:And so to be able to have you to know, like, hey, let's, like, play with this one.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:They say it takes a village to raise a child, right?
Speaker A:Well, maybe it takes a village to finish a painting sometimes.
Speaker A:Like, add something else to it.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Really fun.
Speaker B:Yeah, it does.
Speaker B:Like, you keep saying it feels correct, but I agree with that.
Speaker B:It does feel correct.
Speaker B:It feels there's so much more ease when the two of us are in the studio, because it's like, I can be like, okay, I'm.
Speaker B:I'm working on this thing, and I'm not really worried about it.
Speaker B:I'm just kind of in the process, in the flow, and you have the trust to like, give me these very like, beautiful and vulnerable seeming paintings.
Speaker B:Like, you handed me two pieces that.
Speaker B:I'm excited.
Speaker B:You'll.
Speaker B:People will see these more in the promo, I bet.
Speaker B:But they're like little pieces that are kind of like ribs and breasts.
Speaker B:Basically.
Speaker B:It's just like that one chunk of the body.
Speaker B:And they're just paintings.
Speaker B:And I added a bunch of those collage pieces and then some words into them.
Speaker B:Like, one of them says, like, her toes in my rib gauge.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:When you showed me that, you just like, you worked that up and I was like, fuck, yes.
Speaker A:Like, this is what happens when you trust.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You know, it's like this is this old piece that, like, it was finished and I liked it, but let's see what it's.
Speaker A:Get.
Speaker A:Get Molly on there and see how it just transforms.
Speaker A:And that was a really special moment for me.
Speaker B:Yeah, that was, that was fun because I just, I felt so much freedom to just play.
Speaker B:So I was just like, ooh, ribs.
Speaker B:Let's just make these ribs even more pronounced.
Speaker B:And then it made me think of the actual physical experience of having my daughter Penny in my ribs.
Speaker B:And her little feet would just always get.
Speaker B:I can feel up in my ribcage.
Speaker B:Feel that.
Speaker B:Get out of there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's such a.
Speaker B:It's such a bizarre feeling to be pregnant.
Speaker B:Like, love to everybody who's like, I love being pregnant.
Speaker B:It's so beautiful.
Speaker B:And I'm like, yeah, but it's also like, really fucking weird.
Speaker B:It's weird.
Speaker B:You have this, like, alien inside of you.
Speaker B:You're like, wow, this is no respect for my organs at all.
Speaker B:Or my ribs.
Speaker B:Just hands and fingers everywhere.
Speaker B:So it was, it was just felt very satisfying to just write those words.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:To document that feeling.
Speaker B:Like her toes and my ribs.
Speaker A:It was perfect.
Speaker A:You know, I remember that day.
Speaker A:That was a bit.
Speaker A:That was like one.
Speaker A:A great day.
Speaker B:It was a good day.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Very happy.
Speaker B:Yeah, me too.
Speaker B:And we also have photos that we took together with the lovely Paul.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was fun.
Speaker B:Who did those photos.
Speaker B:And that was cool too, because I feel like that was another unfolding of our relationship as moms and just like playing with the forms and stuff.
Speaker B:So it's cool that we've been able to play with all these different mediums and it's all going to come together in this show on August 28th.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And Paul's so talented and he was just so awesome to work with us in for, for this, for the show.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And then, and then he came over and edited the photos with us.
Speaker A:Yeah, that was so fun.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It takes a village.
Speaker B:I want more of that.
Speaker B:Like after that Sunday I was like, okay, we just need to have art making Sundays all the time.
Speaker B:Yeah, like, let's just.
Speaker B:Why not?
Speaker B:We have bagels, we have coffee and then we just like put on some music and make art.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:That's great.
Speaker B:It's all about.
Speaker A:Very great.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So thanks for collaborating with me.
Speaker A:Thanks for collaborating with me.
Speaker B:I'm really, really excited to see how this show comes together.
Speaker B:We've got a month to finish it up, but.
Speaker B:August 28, 5 to 8pm Mount Morris, New York at GVCA Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.
Speaker A:Yeah, we'll see you there.
Speaker B:Yeah, it'll be amazing.
Speaker B:This has been a presentation of the Lunch Podcast Network.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.
