Mother or (K)not

Curatorial Statement by Janet Decker Yanez

Mother or (K)not is an exhibition of two women artists, with opposite paths of adulthood whose work converge on the playground of fine art making. Playing off of the adage “ready or not,” which is often associated with the age-old question, “am I ready for kids,” Mother or (K)not embraces both answers to that question with the works of Kaylan Buteyn and Pam Marlene Taylor. Motherhood is a no-brainer for some but for others it can be a difficult, very personal and sometimes costly decision. It can be especially hard to decide, and live with your decision, in the art world where the prevailing sentiment is not to have children if a woman wants an art career, or to limit kids to just one.

Artist Statement by Pam Marlene Taylor for “Tubes”

In this three-piece series I explore the time in my life when my trusted birth control began to cause health problems in my mid-twenties and needed to be removed immediately. This, coupled with life-long severe menstrual symptoms as well as a decision already made to not have children, resulted in multiple conversations asking my doctors what other options I had, including permanent surgical interventions. Rather than explaining the process or even reviewing concerns, I was responded to by three separate doctors with laughter and dismissed. The answers I received left me confused and without agency and are now the titles of these pieces:

You’ll Change Your Mind When All Your Friends Start Having Babies

No Doctor Will Ever Give That To You Before You’ve Have Children

Have You Talked to Your Husband About This?

(Pammy’s work in this exhibition are the 3 large weavings and the 10 punch-needle embroidered hand pieces)