Motherhood in Four Acts is a publication about the sculptures and sculptural installations of Mexico-based artist Adeline de Monseignat (b. 1987, Monaco). It is also a publication about the artists experiences of matrescence the process of becoming a mother and how these experiences are interwoven with her recent sculptural works.
Inspired by a theatrical production or play, the publication is structured in four acts. The first, titled Earth presents the work Seedscape, which takes the form of smooth, rounded seeds carved from sand-coloured travertine, exploring themes of the seed and its potential for life, the earth and fertility, pregnancy and the womb. The publication features documentation of three presentations of the work, culminating on the rooftop terrace of the Museo MARCO in Monterrey, Mexico, in Monseignats exhibition Enceinte (Pregnant).
The second act, entitled Fire, presents the sculpture Uketamo, which considers the experience of giving birth, the emptiness of the womb post-partum, and coming to terms with the newborns separation from the umbilical cord. Comprising an outdoor sculptural installation launched in 2024 at Casa Wabi Foundations Sabino site, the artist employs tezontle a volcanic rock to create mounds with empty spaces inside and mirrors at their bases, reflecting the sky. Seeming to emerge out of the gravel-covered ground, these mounds and cavities resemble volcanoes after an eruption, bringing fertile minerals out of the fires deep underground and into the air of the earths surface.
The third act, Air, documents the body of work Skin to Skin, presented at Colector Gallery in Monterrey in 202324. The works evoke notions of a mothers intimate first contacts with their baby, the proximity between them, the bringing together of their flesh, and breathing together. The sculptures that comprise this series juxtapose white travertine a form of sedimentary rock and polished bronze, as if mother and newborn are holding each others bodies close, almost wrapped around one another.
The final act, Water, revolves around the work Aurum, representing breastfeeding and the sense of the mothers body producing and releasing milk and other fluids. In the work, a mothers breasts take the form of a fountain, both a vessel and provider. I remember feeling like I was liquifying, no exaggeration. My body had transmuted into one big vessel, explains the artist. A bronze version of the work, replete with basin and flowing water, was on show at MASA Galería in Mexico City in 2023.
The four bodies of work are discussed in a thoughtful and thought-provoking essay by Andrée Bober, curator and founding director of Landmarks, the public art programme of the University of Texas at Austin. Along with a foreword by Adeline de Monseignat, each act features text entries providing background information to the works and contexts in which they have been shown. Edited by Katharine Jaensch and designed by Gabriela Bustillos, this hardback publication features texts in both English and Spanish, with translations by Jimena Lechuga. The publication was made possible with the support of Colector, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas.
Adeline de Monseignat (b. 1987) is a sculptor based between London and Mexico City. Her work explores the life within inanimate objects through mythology, symbolism and anthropomorphism. Using natural and manufactured materials, she creates dialogue about the cycles of life. She has exhibited worldwide and holds degrees from UCL and City of Guilds.
