The Child’s Bath
Lithograph
15 x 11 inches

Woman in a Red Bodice and Her Child
Lithograph
15 x 11 inches

Why do we have kids? Is it because of their cuteness? Would we still have them if they look like fully-formed adults straight out the gate? Despite my belief that life is not worth starting, I do find toddlers endearing, and occasionally long to have biological children. These conflicting emotions led to this ongoing series of lithographic appropriations of Mary Cassatt’s mother-and-child paintings. By swapping the babies with adults, I reflect on my own maternal feelings, and question whether we would still have children if we can only birth fully-formed adults.

I initially chose to appropriate Mary Cassatt’s mother-and-child paintings for their iconography and recognizability. As I learned more about her, however, I was fascinated by the contrast between her devotion to this subject matter and her life as a childfree woman, as well as various interpretations of this tension. I seem to have an affinity with her, as I’m fairly steadfast about not having biological children myself, yet cannot stop thinking about procreative matters.