First Sighting (2010)

An exploration of pregnancy, labour and the process of becoming a mother and seeing the world through new eyes.

*142/146* are the heart rates of the twins that this woman carried while*19% – 99%* is the measurement of pain allocated to each contraction.

The painting is split in half by the linea nigra just the same way a pregnant woman’s body is split by the same line. This woman took the line as a representation of herself as an African mother, demarcated by a black line – a signifier of the hormonal process blackening the children she was carrying.

The painting was started in her third trimester and completed in the first year of life of her twins.

Acrylic on canvas with newspaper print.

Written by Wambui