The Letdown: Data Visualizations of Exclusive Breast Pumping by Tracy Marie Taylor

(Installation View)
Flashe Pigment on panel
2019
12 paintings, each are 21 inches (diameter)

"The Letdown visualizes the complexities of my identity as artist-mother and connects to broader cultural conversations about motherhood. Through my art, I survey the assisted reproductive and breastfeeding technologies that were my companions during struggles to become a mother and in my efforts to sustain new life.

In this series, I use computer programming to visually reinterpret the data collected from twelve months of breast pumping into delicately hued and precisely delineated discs. The resulting artworks are metaphors for time, the often invisible labor of domestic care work and the distance created by technology. Together these pieces give shape to physical and creative tensions. They give voice to the millions of women who have struggled to become mothers and honor the under-valued labor of motherhood" (From the artist's website).

Tracy Marie Taylor is a Chicago-based multi-media artist and educator. Taylor’s studio practice thematically and practically explores the relationship between nature and technology. Through her art, she surveys the assisted reproductive and breastfeeding technologies that were her companions during struggles to become a mother and in her efforts to sustain new life. She embraces traditional tools such as painting, drawing and sculpture, as well as digital tools such as video, animation and creative coding. Taylor’s artwork has been exhibited in Chicago galleries including Roman Susan Gallery, Hyde Park Art Center, and at institutions across the United States. Taylor holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA from the University of New Mexico and is an Associate Professor at Lake Forest College.