My recent work focuses on the subject of myself and my children to speak about intense and interdependent human relationships. In this context I explore the shifting dynamics of power and patterns of dysfunction. I also investigate the instability of identity and self perception and the hidden motivations behind personal beliefs and behaviors. Playing with the persona of the mother and the mother-as-artist, the work brings up uncomfortable questions on themes of motherhood, femininity, emotional health, and childrearing.
Made Up Mother
A photographic series of my face covered in brightly colored make-up that has been excessively and haphazardly applied. My thee-year-old daughter, with traces of makeup on her fingers, has her hands on me and is manipulating my expressions by pulling and contorting my face. In this act I take on the persona of clown and beat-up martyr in an act that seems at the same time violent and desperate. A child trying in vain to animate an expressionless mother.
Masks
An ongoing series I am working on in which I explore the masking, manipulating, transferring, and denying the identity of another and specifically how that occurs in relationships of mother to daughter.
Skin to Skin
An ongoing series of images on the subject of the physical touch relationship of mother to child, specifically through the act breastfeeding and the process of full term nursing as a baby grows up. In this project I explore the blurring of boundaries of identity through intimacy and the resulting side-effects of intense physical interdependence, comfort, and familiarity.
My Puppet
A video in which I hold my newborn daughter in my lap while she sleeps. The camera is so close to her face that slight changes in the rhythm of her breathing are audible. I have my thumb on her chin and pull down on it, which causes her jaw to open and close, mirroring the opening and closing of my mouth as I speak for her. She is my ventriloquist dummy as I have her apologize for causing me pain in childbirth, for asking so much of me, and for being so “selfish”.
… more about Megan
Born in North Platte, Nebraska in 1979, Megan Wynne is a mother, a multi-media artist, and a breastfeeding activist. She also has a background in dance and education, and has experience working in dance instruction, museum education, and collegiate teaching (photography). She received her BFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in 2002, and received her MFA in New Genres from San Francisco Art Institute in 2010. Her work is currently on view in a group exhibition at The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.
