Artwork Description
Swoon – Dawn and Gemma Temple
Dimensions: 18 x 9 x 9′
Year: 2014
Medium: wood, hand cut paper, linoleum block print
on paper and mylar, acrylic gouache, found objects
Swoon created Dawn and Gemma during the period in which she came to terms with the hardships of her relationship with her mother. Dawn is a childhood friend of the artist, and witnessing how Dawn connected with and cared for her two children was a revelation for Swoon. She says of the experience, “On this particular day, we sat and talked while she breastfed her new baby, and I felt totally awestruck at the beauty and tenderness of the moment. As I drew this piece, I was able to contemplate the presence of a deeply loving, generative force in all of us. I was able to draw myself nearer to the ways that mothering is present in the world, and that drawing myself nearer was like a balm to my soul.”
Dawn and Gemma Temple is part of Swoon’s 7 Contemplations body of work, which was first exhibited at the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, NY in 2021. The installation serves as a place to contemplate the nurturing aspect of unconditional love that exists between a parent and child. Unique elements such as honeycomb ceiling and seating area inside the temple offer an opportunity for solace and basking in the most potent experience of contemporary art.