Women, Autonomy, Authenticity, and Motherhood
I began by reflecting on women’s autonomy through observing the women I grew up around. I ruminated on the potential conflict between personal freedom and motherhood or committed relationships.
Having grown up in a relatively traditional family, I believe that the mother-child relationship as well as various other intimate relationships constitute one’s personhood. Even though committed relationships are potentially harmful to personal freedom, a person's autonomy for other personal projects may have to be limited in order to respond to the needs of her loved ones. Nonetheless, there is a value in a woman who autonomously and authentically becomes a mother. There is value in responding to the person and relationship to which one is committed; just as there is value in a mother responding to the needs of her child.
All the sitters are women I know, women I care about, women I deeply relate to. These women exist not just in themselves, but also in my being, becoming components of my authenticity as a daughter, a sister, a friend, and an artist. Through my artistic practice, I want to convey that a person’s existence is always embodied in relation to another’s existence. The person’s practice of autonomy and authenticity always involves a relational nature.
Xiangjie Rebecca Wu ‘22
Advisors: Marina Mangubi, Studio Art; Evan Riley, Philosophy
All images copyright © 2022 Rebecca Wu. All rights reserved.
Sister in Gestation, Oil on Canvas 37.5” x 28.5”, 2021
Mother Knitting a Sweater II, Oil on Canvas, 32’’ x 24’’, 2021
Needlework, Drawing, 12” x 12”, 2021
Self-Portrait, Oil on Canvas, 46” x 31”, 2021