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Alexandra Carter

Alexandra Carter: The Mother Shell from Alexandra Carter

ARTIST STATEMENT
 
I paint the female body in states of transformation—pregnancy, birth, postpartum—to reveal the visceral realities of motherhood. I want to know how this experience consumes, ruptures, and remakes the self. I’m drawn to the monstrous feminine—the reproductive body as both feared and revered, vola

Growing up on a cranberry farm in Massachusetts, I was immersed in cycles of fertilization, growth, and harvest—rhythms that shape my work. Cranberries become metaphors for the reproductive body: swollen, fertile, bleeding. The harvest’s dependence on flooding echoes my fascination with contain

I often use my own body as a model, staging performances for the camera to explore personal and archetypal imagery. I draw from folklore and mythology, reimagining figures whose transformations mirror the physical and psychological shifts of motherhood. These mythic bodies—splitting, mutating—s

Through these paintings, I confront the contradictions of motherhood—its tenderness and violence, power and erasure, creation and consumption—an experience that is both universal and deeply personal.... more

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Edema by Alexandra Carter
Edema by Alexandra Carter
Edema by Alexandra Carter
Edema by Alexandra Carter
Edema by Alexandra Carter
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  • Alexandra Carter
  • Edema, 2024
  • Ink and 23k gold leaf on drafting film
  • 17 x 14 in
  • $1,000

“Edema” captures the physical and emotional contortions of motherhood through a surreal, gravity-defying pose. The figure—pregnant and inverted—evokes the relentless demands and impossible balancing acts mothers often perform, metaphorically and literally. The title refers to the swelling commonly experienced in pregnancy, here exaggerated into soft, bulbous forms that emphasize both discomfort and strength. A gold-leaf fetus, suspended like a medallion from the figure’s foot, underlines the weight mothers carry—at once precious and consuming. This piece is part of an ongoing exploration of what I call “the acrobatics of motherhood,” a visceral meditation on adaptation, endurance, and the absurd grace demanded by care.