2-Channel-Installation, HD Video, sound, b&w, 4.10 Min. (Loop)

MOTHER TONGUE is about the very special relationship between mother and daughter and about reclaiming our animal heritage. It is also about exploring our senses in a different way and (re)discovering actions beyond their societal interpretation.

Cats and other animals lick the faces and bodies of their kids and vice versa to show their love and also as a cleaning ritual. A ritual that also means legacy. The cat has always been seen as an animal connected to motherhood and is a creature associated with women as myths, stories and images show.

I was interested what happens if this behaviour is transferred into the human world. As licking often has a sexual connotation in our society it seems odd and maybe almost incestious what is basically an act of purity. Only as society is influencing and restricting our thinking and behaviour we suppose there´s something wrong. That arises the question how strongly we´re influenced by codes of conduct that determine how we read gestures. It shows how difficult it is to overcome notions of how things are and should be.

One might be confused what to do with this image as then again it´s neither sexual nor a common portrait of mother and daughter. With its ambigous, blurred or confusing message it refuses to be an economic picture and wants us to reflect on it. Other than e.g. depictions of mother and daughter do in commercial clips or advertisments.

Eventually in its simple form it is a complex nexus of performance, mother-daughter-relationship, society´s expectations, fears and affection.