Lactation Madonna
36" X 36"
Gel transfer, graphite, paint, mixed media on stretched canvas
the work is structured through translucent layering and iconographic palimpsest. A faded Barbie doll—already an emptied symbol of femininity—floats over a chalk-rendered figure derived from Russian Orthodox iconography of the nursing Madonna. This tradition historically sanctifies breastfeeding as divine nourishment, a visual theology of care, sacrifice, and continuity. By replacing Mary with Barbie and Christ with Baby Yoda, the work collapses sacred lineage into pop-cultural mutation.
The substitution is not ironic—it is diagnostic.
Crucially, the artist inserts photographic transfers of her own breast actively holding the toy, collapsing representation into lived labor. This gesture refuses metaphor alone. Breastfeeding here is not symbolic—it is physiological, draining, time-bound, and real. The mother’s body becomes the literal power source sustaining something that does not fully belong to her. This reframes maternity not as sanctified purity, but as energetic extraction.
