Mother Not Mine

In Mother Not Mine, a lone woman in red moves through a sea of men, echoing The Handmaid’s Tale. During my time in Ireland, I was surrounded by ubiquitous images of the Virgin Mary, venerated as the ultimate figure of purity and motherhood — even as women’s voices and rights are progressively diminished in countries across the world. Her ascent into holy light confronts this contradiction, sanctified in icon, silenced in life.

As the figure rises above the crowd, arms outstretched in a posture that recalls both Mary and Christ, she becomes both divine and untouchable. The viewer is asked to reflect on the dissonance between veneration and suppression, to recognize how societies elevate women in symbol while denying them autonomy in reality.