Red and blue electrical cords, gnarled together, originate from within a hollow, wire structure resembling a corset and stream downward, spilling onto the floor like entrails in Spanish artist Susana Guerrero’s La Madre/The Mother (2020). As with many pieces in Guerrero’s exhibition Mother, Consumed, these cords act as metaphors for conceptual and corporeal conduits, including blood vessels and, crucially, the umbilical cord. The work investigates the symbiosis and separation of mother and child from pregnancy through early childhood with references to abject art and Mediterranean mythology, but most importantly is rooted in personal experience. When Guerrero had been breastfeeding her infant son, she was unaware that she was not producing enough milk until suddenly he needed to be hospitalized. This traumatic experience is the impetus for the artist’s exploration of the mother as a being who feeds, who is herself consumed, and who can give life and take life. Addressing themes of precarity, power, and interdependence, Guerrero’s maternal investigations are not a niche topic, but a way of thinking through all human relationships….

Read the Full Article: “Susana Guerrero: Mother Consumed at 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel (link)