FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2024
Press Contact: Lora Robertson
lora@satellitecollective.org
616.309.8111
Maiden | Mother | Crone at Grand Rapids Fountain Street Church asks viewers to consider society’s beliefs about women’s autonomy
Photographer, filmmaker, and installation artist Lora Robertson presents Maiden | Mother | Crone March 7 - April 7, 2023 in Grand Rapids at Fountain Street Church’s World War One Memorial.
Maiden | Mother | Crone combines nine bronze sculptures of pelvis bones, a rough hewn women’s work table, and holographic time lapsed films of flowers blooming and wilting.
Robertson’s installation explores the way women’s lives are commonly reduced to three stages: the maiden, the mother, and the crone. Robertson says, “some women certainly go through those stages in life. Others don’t. It's a lot more complex and women are complete people with complicated inner lives, creative pursuits and other interests besides, of being a wife and a mother, and a grandmother.”
Maiden | Mother | Crone responds to the increase in laws and policies that reduce women’s autonomy and ability to make decisions about their bodies. It asks viewers to ponder where a woman’s autonomy ends and laws, institutions, and authority figures step in.
Robertson’s installation of the nine pelvises places them in conversation with each other around the sort of table women historically gathered around to prepare meals, sew, talk, and provide assistance in reproductive matters. “It's important to show all of these nine pelvises seated together at a table, suggesting that when women stick together and we actually talk about these problems amongst ourselves, that's another way to make change happen.”
The work was created for exhibition in the World War One Memorial at Fountain Street Church, a space that amplifies sound from one corner to another, connecting disparate conversations and perspectives in the same way Lora Robertson aims to with her installation.
Opening Reception
The opening reception for Maiden | Mother | Crone is from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on Thursday March 7, 2024. The installation will remain at Fountain Street Church, 24 Fountain Street NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 through April 7, 2024.
About Lora Robertson
Lora Robertson is a photographer, filmmaker, and installation artist. As Executive Director of Satellite Collective in New York, she is an advocate for women to stand in their own power and is committed to the retelling of classic story forms from the perspective of female characters, putting their voices forward as flawed heroes. Bringing the discipline of fifteen years of commercial advertising experience into her fine art projects, she uses very little digital manipulation, but instead is devoted to studio lighting, set design and the power of in-camera processes. Lora also believes in taking technical and creative risks which might break these comfortable habits, always from a place of hard work and forward motion. She will take on a muse but only if bets are lost.
About Fountain Street Church
Fountain Street Church has a history of diversity of thought, ideology, identity, and orientation - whether it be on the basis of religious tradition, gender expression, sexual orientation, or lived experience. The church values a spirit of inquiry which respects the religious, humanist, and spiritual teachings from many wisdom traditions and a never-ending search for universal truths that free the mind. It is a community founded on the purposeful inclusion of all, connecting and empowering people to change the world.