'Gamut of emotions': Motherhood inspires Bunbury exhibition

In Motherhood, Ms Dohnt has created small-scale watercolour portraits of mothers from all over Australia, depicting the relationships of mother and child, and the joys, tensions, sadness and loss within those lifetimes of experience.

Inspired by her own experiences as a mother of a four-year-old daughter, Ms Dohnt sought out mothers from a variety of backgrounds, ages and life experiences to share their stories.

The process of creating the work was just as important to the artist as the final product; Ms Dohnt met with each mother and recorded their conversations as each were asked a set of questions. These conversations informed the final composition and set the tone for the exhibition.

Motherhood aims to raise awareness of the realities of birth, child-rearing and the gamut of emotions that encapsulate her every-day. By bringing these experiences to a visual arts context, Dohnt raises the importance of representing the mothers' experience, from the perspective of a female artist.

The exhibition continues from June 18 to August 7, 2022.