Bridge

I had hoped to make it back to the Eastman Museum to take in Bea Nettles “Harvest of Memory” one more time…a loss as trivial as it profound for a body of work that deserves to be seen.

In so many ways Nettle’s work is the perfect visual trope of our current time. Her domestic narratives  makes  visible the maternal, and what it means to create and shelter in place before that phrase became a part of our vernacular. As these days of isolation continue, I recall the emotional overwhelm of when I first became a mother: moments of terror and delight, moments both fleeting and precious. It was the realization that the landscape of my life would never be the same, and yet it would continue to be.

Nettles exposes the messiness of what it means to be a mother, to put one’s personal desires aside for a greater good. “Balancing priorities and making compromise(s).” Rather than a dilemma it’s where we all find ourselves in this present moment, trusting that this compression of life and time has purpose and profound meaning. Collectively, we find ourselves on the bridge to the other side, when we begin to be again.

The exhibition catalogue has become my bridge to experience Bea Nettles’ work, and its purchase  allows me to support the artist and the institution. You might wish to buy one yourself, or someday I would be happy to lend you my own.