DENISE FELKIN, SHORTLISTED 3RD BIENNIAL’S GRANT
Mum’s Not The Word -Statement
I conceived Mum’s Not The Word because there appears to be a massive
negative premise that suggests that women who do not reproduce are
selfish, do not like children or are not real women. Females who do not
procreate are too often misrepresented by negative terms: barren,
spinster, wicked stepmother or crazy cat lady. On many occasions, I have
heard people say: “You wouldn’t understand unless you are a parent
yourself.” I label myself as being child-free because I don’t want children.
However, being infertile is not a choice. For many, it’s also a grieving
process, which for some may slowly grow into acceptance, while for
others it may be a cause of constant pain. There are also the childless by
circumstance and childless by disability.
Today, women are expected to provide reasons not to have children. The
choice to reproduce is not regarded as needing any thought or
justification. Mum’s Not The Word debates the social stigmatisation of
women, who, by choice or for medical reasons, go against the instinct of
childbirth and maternal productivity. I photograph the childless, child-free
and childless by circumstance. The images are of women in the foetal
position, as a reversal of the recognised visual of the unborn child.
I create these images to challenge the negative attitudes within society
towards people without children and to share stories of birth control,
choice, freedom, regret and pain. I recruit participants through word of
mouth and social media. I ask them bring along their duvet cover and I
shoot from above and in natural light.
My subjects come from all walks of life – professionals, artists; a few have
mental health issues or disabilities; some have fragile relationships with
their birth mothers. A couple of the participants also identify as other than
heterosexual.
The childless/child-free/childless by circumstance/ disability are newly
recognised breeds of women who are contributing positively to
decreasing the human impact on the natural world. There are more than
seven billion people worldwide and 400,000 births per day. As the
population soars, a growing number of communities will continue to be
displaced by climate change, environmental disasters, wars, famines,
technology and industry. The one in five who live a life without
descendants are creating a much less of a global strain. Could civilisation
be guided to identify it is acceptable to opt out of parenthood and by not
procreating, humankind can inherit the key to a sustainable future?
Mum’s Not The Word - Proposal
In April 2018, I signed a contract with Veloce a book publisher and my 112 page
photo- book, is about women who do not have children, the release date is 14 June
2019. Each page has full bleed images on women lying in the foetus position on their
bedding, with on the opposite page as first hand account describing each individuals
experience of being childless/ childfree/childless by circumstance. To complete this
series, which I have been working on since 2015, I would like to organise a
celebration around the theme of childlessness. My aim to set up a large scale
photography exhibition and display at fifty images sized 1 metre x 1.5 metre prints in a
art gallery. The exhibition would run for 6 weeks and I will also provide a library and
information area, symposium and a moving image projected onto the a bed structure
in the centre of the exhibition. The Phoenix Gallery, Brighton have agreed to house
the event, which with rent, staffing costs and exhibition organisation and printing costs
will cost in the region of £15,000, If 3rd Biennial Grant proposal is successful , it would
contribute to the match funding required by the Arts Council. And with this being my
first Arts Council application I have been advised to apply for approx £13,000. The
proposed timeframe allows the Biennial a mention in the MNTW book, PR and
exhibition.