Unmothered, 2025

Unmothered explores the emotional effects of maternal estrangement: absence, memory, identity, and the longing for connection. Using childhood photographs, symbolic imagery, and trees to represent her mother, Carla reflects on the space left by a broken mother-daughter relationship. She ended contact with her mother in 2023 due to ongoing emotional and physical harm caused by years of instability and neglect. Though a difficult decision, she chose to prioritise her well-being and personal growth.

By removing her mother from family images, the work becomes a personal act of erasure and survival, revealing a quiet rupture that continues into adulthood. Branches appear throughout the work as symbols of shared blood, evidence of a biological connection that now feels distant and fractured. Shadows suggest the invisible ties that still linger, while trees point to the presence of her mother. Her handprint, pressed onto a tree stump, marks her mother's lasting imprint on her life and the family tree they once shared. The prints are connected by a red string and marked with handwritten text, creating a visual language of grief, fragmentation, and memory. They do not aim to offer resolution but instead honour the complexity of loss and the quiet strength it takes to form a sense of self without a foundational relationship.