REBEKKA MACHT
Rebekka macht
Fragile Wings of Motherhood
curated by Azu Nwagbogu
16th January – 2nd March 2025
Gallery 1957
'Gallery 1957 is delighted to present ‘Fragile Wings of Motherhood,’ our first solo exhibition of 2025 by Rebekka Macht. This new body of work is curated by Azu Nwagbogu and follows a five-month residency with the gallery in Accra.
For her first solo exhibition in Accra, Ghana with Gallery 1957, artist Rebekka Macht offers a reflective body of work that embarks on a personal and profound exploration of motherhood—an institution revered yet fraught with complexities often left unspoken. Through her evocative practice, Macht captures the multifaceted essence of maternal existence, weaving together themes of protection, vulnerability, and societal entanglement.'
'Motherhood, as rendered in her art, emerges as both a solitary and collective experience. It is a realm of veritable paradoxes: the mother is never alone yet lonely. The denial of self is refreshed in the nurture and selfless act of love and devotion to others. Identity is redefined, and the metamorphosis of body, mind, and soul is a collective and intangible process that decelerates and finds artistic expression in abstract expressionist art, in which Macht has found solace. The underlying sensibility that drives this creative energy is fear. Fear is a much-maligned yet renewable energy source when channeled and articulated. In "Fragile Wings of Motherhood," Macht recognizes the anxieties of raising two Black children. She orders those fears, articulates them, and finds creative freedom in expressing herself.'
'Her reflections traverse the terrains of racial and cultural identity, particularly the layered experiences of raising Black children in disparate geographical contexts. In Ghana, there is a semblance of safety, a protective cocoon. But the specter of belonging and societal prejudice looms large beyond Africa. For German citizens who may one day return to a Europe laden with its own historical burdens, the Fragile Wings of Motherhood require extended spiritual wings. This tension—the limits of a mother's influence and the inevitable independence of her offspring—is a recurring motif that reverberates through her oeuvre.'
'Visually, her works are acts of discombobulation, formal detonation, and fragmentation where human bodies, particularly those of her children, are meticulously positioned to articulate the fragility and resilience of familial bonds. The central architectural installation in the exhibition has an arch-like protective dome over the fragmented figures. This is symbolic of safety and evocative of the nest for children who will eventually metamorphose, grow wings, and fly. It is not the change that comes with age that holds fear for the mother, but rather the wings that unfold on the children's backs just before they set out to fly.'
'Macht's grappling with faith adds another dimension to her narrative. Raised within the structures of Christianity, Macht recalls formative experiences of choir practices and church plays, moments that imparted both spiritual enlightenment and creative outlets mixed with an enduring sense of guilt. The evolution of self catalyzed a reevaluation of these inherited beliefs, pushing her toward a more critical stance on the intersection of religion, feminism, and colonial history. This questing, though deeply personal, manifests in her art as an inquiry into the broader legacies of faith and its impact on identity formation. It is non-judgmental, non-hierarchical, and unprejudiced, presented as a sort of evidence without a need for judgment or sentence.'
'Technically, her practice is a dialogue between memory and innovation. The deliberate, almost ritualistic setups of her compositions reflect an intuitive understanding of form and function, honed by her background in art and mathematics. Macht's paintings are imbued with a sense of contemporary timelessness, an immediate sense of Homeric metaphor, transcending the immediate to engage with enduring questions of human existence: How do we reconcile the protective instincts of motherhood with the inevitability of separation? How does one articulate the weight of societal constructs on the intimate sphere of family life?'
'In contemplating these questions, the artist offers a poignant commentary on the intersection of personal and political realities. The images she crafts are both tender and unflinching, capturing the raw essence of a world where the personal is inextricably linked to the collective. Through her lens, motherhood is not merely a biological or social role but a profound act of resistance and creation, a testament to the enduring spirit of care in the face of uncertainty. Through "Fragile Wings of Motherhood," we begin to sense that identity—home, gender, race—as constructed by society, dissolves into one big pot of our collective humanity.'
-Curatorial Text by Azu Nwagbogu
