The Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London is one of the most internationally recognized maternity areas. Mainly because figures from the British royal family, such as Princess Diana or Kate Middleton, have posed happily at its doors after giving birth to the future heirs to the crown.
These photographs have projected an unrealistic image of the postpartum process, as made visible by the Frida brand in its new marketing action.
The company, which sells products related to maternity, has placed a statue that seeks to portray a woman in the postpartum period and pay tribute to her. The sculpture has been worked on by British artist Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark seeking to capture the complexity of women’s experience after childbirth.
The piece, as it appears Fast Company, It is made of bronze, is two meters high and is titled “Mother Vérité”. For its preparation, 3D scans of eight women of various origins have been taken as reference and they have wanted to realistically capture scars, swelling and curves typical of the process.
Frida points out that the statue is the first monument in honor of the art of motherhood. “We wanted a way to honor a woman’s physical transformation into motherhood and encourage open dialogue about the invisible work that often comes with it.“said Chelsea Hirschhorn, Founder and CEO of Frida. “If the statues of our society honor our heroes, I believe that mothers are the best heroine“.
The artist, for her part, understands the sculpture as a broader tribute to the figure of women. In her Instagram posts related to the action, she notes that, globally, women are significantly underrepresented in public statues. As she explains, in London only 4% of statues represent women, and in the United States, less than 8% represent them, and even fewer represent them as mothers.
“Childbirth and the postpartum period, despite being one of life’s most universal events, remain largely invisible: erased from culture, censored in the media, and ignored in public art“, Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark said. “Public representation transforms perception: seeing real postpartum bodies in public spaces normalizes the experience and redefines social expectations”.
The statue was unveiled at the door of the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in London, and will remain in the city during the Frieze art fair, which takes place from October 15 to 19. Afterwards, it will travel to the United States and will be exhibited at the Art Basel fair in Miami, which takes place from October 24 to 26. After this, it will return to Portman Square permanently as part of an agreement with the district.
