Konsten av Mödraskap : En studie av fyra verk om mödraskap av konstnärerna Anna Sjödahl och Monica Sjöö

This essay examines four artworks by swedish artists Monica Sjöö and Anna Sjödal, which depicts motherhood from the 1970s to 1980s. With purpose to investigate what the artworks and the artist lives can tell about being a mother, woman, and female artist during the afformentioned time in Sweden. The theoretical framework used in this essay to grasp the concept of motherhood has been the theory from author and poet Adrienne Rich’s book Of Woman Born from 1976. As both artist were active in multiple feminist and humanitarian organisations during the time which relates to the works, these movements are also explored to give context of the time. The analysis is a qualitatively one, and aims to decode the symbols in the works to see what it can tell about the time they were made in, therefore semiotics based on Charles Sanders Peirces method of Index, Symbols, and Icons will be used. The study finds the artist mostly depict the ambivolent and challenging experiences of being a mother, housewife, worker, and a creative all at the same time, ranging from singular moments, to a global and cosmic scale.