Mothers and Daughters

Solar One/Habitat for Artists, New York, NY

In my performance Mothers and Daughters, I explored how one generation offers its lessons to the next, both learned and unspoken.

I honored my Eastern European grandmother by washing my laundry by hand the way she did a century ago and then hung it to dry on a clothesline. I invited my 86-year-old mother, Dorothy Krakovsky, to join me. She was sewing by hand, which she in turn was taught to do by my grandmother.

In this piece, as in many of my performance works, the everyday and the creative co-exist. The Habitat for Artists shed served as the home location for the everyday tasks of doing laundry and sewing. My mother, grandmother, and I are three generations of artists. The artworks of mother, daughter and grandmother filled the interior of the habitat for the duration of the performance.

My relationship to the domestic has been a difficult one. Much of my performative work revolves around the ever-changing notions of home, its location and meaning. Women, domesticity, creativity and everyday tasks converge. Before it’s too late, there is much to be learned from those who have gone before.