Watercolour, 2021
Martina Ismail
… is the weight of other people’s opinions.
This X-piece series speaks of the emotional burden mothers carry. Apart from the significant physical aspects of weight, the more worrying one is within her.
It all started upon my return from maternity to work in 2020. I felt lost and I can’t seem to identify my identity and beliefs.
Every now and then, I go back to the very purpose of living now; raising my kids who will give back to humanity and hopefully spread kindness regardless of their circumstances. Not everyone is kind; I have met people who get high on schadenfreude, those with unmet needs, and some with the agenda to crumble others when all else fails. My painting series depicts the journey of a new mother of two who is overwhelmed, frazzled, and mostly tired. A journey of wrong turns that are probably still right. She has never loved so hard and so fiercely, at the same time, she has never felt so vulnerable. She’s emotionally sensitive but determined to seek a balance between her career, caring for her children and most importantly, self-love. This amalgamation of dealing with insecurities, obnoxious overthinking and worrying what others would think can cause oneself a lot of harm. It’s important one knows how deletion of certain aspects in life is important for the sake of our sanity.
Martina is a full time Art educator, passionate artist, wanderlust seeker, and above all, a self-declared world’s okay-est mom. Art has always been a part of her life. Her works are mostly heavily inspired by her personal experiences, wild imagination and silly afterthoughts. Through her paintings, she hopes to focus on thought provoking artworks that are open for interpretations. Her artworks are based on emotions that can’t quite be explained by words alone.
Read more about a x edge 2020 and the existing artworks.
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