Photography is a popular way to capture and document birth, but mom and painter Amanda Greavette has found another medium for illustrating the uniquely powerful experience.
‘The Birth Project’ is a painting series that portrays pregnancy, birth and motherhood in a transformative and powerful way.
Greavette paints beautiful portraits of pregnant ladies, many of whom are in labor or bonding with their newborns.
“After I had my second kid, I was drawn to the epic subjects of birth, pregnancy, and mothering,” Amanda Greavette remarked.
“I felt like there was a lot going on in this short but intense period, and I couldn’t find any other contemporary art that explored it.”
The subjects of Greavette’s Birth Project paintings are real mothers, from friends and family members whose births she attended in person or observed through birth photography to women who have shared their birth stories and images through email or social media.
She added” “I want [my paintings] to be relatable and real, and convey the expressions and emotions we have when we’re laboring and birthing and meeting our children.”
“Our bodies are so strong, so incredible, and beautiful even with flaws and scars and weaknesses,” Greavette said.
“Many birth stories have a lot of pain, sadness, disappointment or guilt in them, and I want to provide a space with my work to sit with these things as well.”
“The answer I’ve gotten from my audience is that they speak to them in a special manner, and that women everywhere have fantastic, empowering, and life-changing births,” she concluded.
“They want to see it, talk about it and have it recognized and validated.”
That certainly occurs in this bold artwork.
