Making a Maker

When I was 38 years old, I made three identical dresses out of white canvas to mark the end of my cancer treatment. My intention was healing and connection through art, by wearing the dresses and inviting strangers to paint them and sharing my story. Many months later, these dresses came to mean more to me in my photographic work. They sparked a project called “Making a Maker” about my role as a woman, a mother and artist. “Making a Maker” is an autobiographical conceptual and documentary photography project about navigating my role as woman and a mother after a breast cancer diagnosis. I was both struggling with and celebrating my new role as a mother when I was faced with a life threatening illness and its consequent fertility damaging treatment. "Making a Maker" is a photographic inquiry into the nature of time, the fragility of life, and my challenging relationship with fertility. These images tell the story of the connection between me and my daughter and the hope of having another child. They reveal the threat I felt of my own disappearance and my longing to hold on to the freedom that childhood brings as I create a supportive space for my daughter to grow.