Sophia Cohen, five months pregnant, interviews artist Loie Hollowell about navigating motherhood and artistic practice. Hollowell discusses how pregnancy, childbirth, and perimenopause have influenced her abstract geometric works exploring the female body. The conversation covers the physical and emotional transformations of pregnancy, the fear of loss, and how these experiences manifest—or don't—in her art. Hollowell's recent museum survey at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, “Loie Hollowell: Space Between, A Survey of Ten Years,” mapped the parallel evolution of her visual language and her body.
This article matters because it highlights the intersection of motherhood and contemporary visual art, a topic often underrepresented in art-world discourse. Hollowell's willingness to openly discuss the physical and psychological realities of pregnancy and parenting provides a rare, candid perspective for artists and mothers alike. It also underscores how personal bodily experience can drive an artist's creative evolution, challenging traditional narratives that separate domestic life from professional artistic production.