Kristy Cavaretta

Self-Care, 2020

Direct object print on paper using Akua & Speedball printing inks

(mom undies with hole in the crotch and cut off handprint)

18"x 24"

As the pandemic began in early 2020 I was just beginning to emerge from a year of living in survival mode with newborn twins and a two year old. I began to explore my physicality after denying myself for a year as I put all of my own needs on pause to care for my babies. This exploration met the pandemic, where, not fully emerged, I was sent right back into that holding pattern of denied self-care or even acknowledgement as I shifted gears to keeping our family safe and sane and protected. My husband and I own restaurants in a small town on the coast of Maine. The fear of bringing home illness; the stress of maintaining the business and our finances; and the responsibility to care for not just our family but all of our employees was at times intense. My role as mother was to create a safe place where those fears and tensions did not reach my children. The affects of all of this on me - as a human, is that my needs were not being met. Emotionally I was operating like a robot, if I took the time to really look at myself I would see that I was completely detached, as evidenced by the underwear with holes in it I was still wearing since my post-partum period.

kristycavaretta.com

@kristy.cavaretta