Mother/Self, Self/Mother
JADE KAHLE
Jade Kahle, Janus, 2017, etching
Mother/Self, Self/Mother begins a narrative between Mother as Self and Lover as Mother, taking in identity and the idea of control through expressive and irreverent selfies, wooden dolls and a refusal of the convention of ‘smiling for the camera.’ Kahle uses etching worked from photographs to trace memory hidden between past and present, using ‘grown up’ words like mother and lover, attempting to unravel the duality of roles, whilst looking for one’s self. The slow process of translation through different mediums allows the artist access to a personally reflective take on these moments. Wooden knitting dolls with iconic beetroot faces as portrait and sitting in etched hands mark the transition between knitting (an important part of Kahle's practice) and drawing, the connection between physical art working and the image.
