The Mother Issue
Issue 45:3 | Warltati / Summer 2026
Guest Editor: Belinda Howden
Despite its art historical invisibility, parenthood is an evergreen subject for artists — mothers especially. The Mother Issue illuminates parenting as a generative force set with enduring challenges. Drawing together case studies, curatorial initiatives and subjective accounts from Australia and Aotearoa / New Zealand, writers investigate the myriad ways mother-artists conceptualise and deliver creative work against a backdrop of technological and generational change.
Tania Lou Smith, Untitled (pram variations) #1, 2020, pigment inkjet print on Somerset museum archival rag, 84 x 56cm. Courtesy of the artist.
