Words: Clare Dwyer Hogg
For your project ‘Golden Gravidation’ you’ve painted the scars and stretchmarks on women’s skin – how did you get the idea?
I was having a coffee with friends who were saying how they felt their bodies were ruined after children. I have a five year old and a two year old (art had been on the back-burner for a while!) so I understand, but thought that was awfully sad. One said she wished she could fill in her stretch marks. And then I remembered Japanese pottery repair, and it all came together.
Japanese pottery repair?
It’s the ancient art Kintsugi, which is an amazing process. When pottery is smashed, it isn’t thrown away. Instead, they bind the pieces back together with gold and lacquer, and it becomes even more valuable. It holds more honesty and importance.
What do you do?
The women come to my house, sit on a big green Seventies reclining armchair in my conservatory, and I make them a cup of tea. Then I start painting their stretch marks or scars. I use gold face-paint mixed with a fine dusting of gold glitter, and it can take anything from an hour to over three hours. While I’m painting, they talk to me about their experiences. I’m booked in to paint a surrogate mother, and have already painted women who have had miscarriages, and one who has had a lot of fertility treatment, and all she has to show are the scars. The stories are so moving.
Why 79?
79 is the atomic compound number for gold. I’m over halfway now. My mum is going to be number 78 and I’ll be 79. But the idea has grown. Now it’s not just mothers: I’ve painted the head of a woman with alopecia, and the scars of a seven year old who’s had open heart surgery. People get so much out of it, I’m currently booked up until January.