CALL ME MOTHER

09.01.25 - 23.02.25

Sarah Maple

The Naughton Gallery proudly presents Call Me Mother, a solo exhibition by Sarah Maple.

Sussex-based Maple (b.1985) is an award-winning artist, renowned for her bold and provocative works that challenge societal notions of identity. Drawing inspiration from her mixed religious and cultural upbringing, Maple’s incisive commentary spans the intersections of identity, race, religion, gender, and the art world. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that includes painting, performance, photography, collage, and video, she balances sharp critique with subversive humour, encouraging audiences to confront their biases and rethink preconceptions. Intertwining personal narratives with universal themes, Maple’s work is both deeply resonant and widely accessible.

Call Me Mother delves into the artist’s relatively recent experiences of motherhood, centring around Labour of Love (2022), a photographic installation visualising the 650 times her baby was fed over the course of three months. Comprising 650 images of Maple and her child, each photograph includes a hand-finished element concealing the artist’s face. In Maple’s own words, “The aim is to highlight the sheer volume of work that is expected of mothers and to challenge people to rethink the value of the time spent. Raising a child is seen as a female task, not a real job, thus unpaid and undervalued. Addressing this and rectifying the situation is the unfinished work of feminism”.

Ultimately, Call Me Mother offers a candid exploration of the realities of motherhood, shedding light on its undervalued labour while challenging societal perceptions of women during and after pregnancy. Provoking meaningful dialogue, the exhibition reaffirms Maple's role as an artist unafraid to tackle essential and timely issues.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sarah Maple graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Kingston University and has exhibited her work internationally at galleries and institutions including Tate Britain, Bradford Museum and Art Gallery, and KochxBos, Amsterdam. Maple’s work is held in Collections of institutions including Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Soho House, and The Hyman Collection, and in 2019 she was selected for Syllabus V, an independent learning programme run by Wysing Arts Centre. In 2020, she created a semi-autobiographical video work in the style of a sitcom which debuted on Sky Arts. She has previously exhibited at the Naughton Gallery in the group exhibitions Maybe She’s Born With It (2016) and Lemonade Stand (2020).