What is Mother Lasting and where did the inspiration for this series come from?
Mother Lasting is a series of paintings and drawings that reflect on my mother in her final months with Alzheimer’s disease. The work honors her life journey, and respects the reversal of trust, from me in her to her in me.
Within this expanding collection, viewers find a likeness to leaf veins among the beautiful and complex profundities of wizened old flesh. Appearing in some of the work, these pairings also return my mother, in my mind, to the expansive mystery of nature and the all.
Even with a lifetime of experience with the strength of my mother’s character, it’s her final years that impress me the most. She passed away at the age of 92 in 2021.
Indifference to our vulnerable old ones prompts me to paint and draw my mom from memory, imagination, and photos taken of her through windows during the COVID-19 lockdown. I hope this work encourages the visibility of our elders and opposes a general cultural attitude of dismissal of the old, which, among many other injustices, was brought to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. To think that elders are insignificant in this world consumed with productivity and usefulness is unjust and offensive, as longevity is its own state of being, holding meaning and discovery in layers of lasting.
Who initially inspired you to grapple with dementia?
I was my mother’s primary caregiver until she needed to go into assisted living and then memory care. From there, I was her advocate and handler of all her affairs. Caring for her, I feel, was the most important and meaningful part of my life.
At one point, I joined an online caregivers forum to chat with others who were going through the same struggles in understanding and caring for loved ones with this horrible disease. I learned from the other caregivers that trying to convince my mom of reality would not work, as she was in her world that was real to her. From there, I saw that, as an artist, I was a good person to perform this care, since I partially live in a world of imagination with my art and could easily go with her into her storied land. I also learned a bit about practical matters, such as finance and legal matters, for which I’m not especially cut out. I stay on the forum now that my mom has passed to help others navigate the issues.
How has working on dementia-related art changed you?
The paintings and drawings of my mother are a new direction for my work. Earlier work, though also figurative and sometimes centered on elders, is more philosophical than this current work. Because the series is about my mother, it felt very personal while creating it, but the overwhelming response I have gotten from my solo exhibitions at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, CO, and the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, CO, tells me those feelings are also universal. I hope others may find recognition in the work as it continues to be available for viewing.
Coming up, two of the paintings will be shown at the Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, from December 13 to January 10, and another painting will be shown at Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada, CO, from January 16 to March 30. There will also be another solo exhibition of the series at the Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, in 2027.
How has Mother Lasting been received?
The work has been shown in art centers in the area and the responses are deeply emotional from caregivers, families of persons with dementia, and—to my surprise and delight—young adults. I have found that young people, being fond of their grandparents, wish to follow them through the loss of their short-term memory and deep into their past lives as the younger generations search for their own roots.
This work is dedicated to: My mother, Joyce McCray
Find more from Irene Delka McCray on her website.
