The Midwife, Jenni

The Midwife.
Jenni.
Pastel.

:::

about the piece.
In Jenni's words, "A few months after losing my daughter I went to see a Borneo-trained shaman to receive whatever healing might be available. At one point during our session she told me that in my next pregnancy I would be watched by several spirit guides, one of whom was an old Incan midwife. She described her black hair and deep squat and thick strong hands that would hold my own hands and catch my baby. Later I tried to sketch my midwife guide, and this is the image that emerged: muzzled, without hands, a draining heart. It is really an image of myself in Angel's Mae birth and my fears for a future pregnancy. The image is raw and unfinished as I'm not primarily a visual artist; the sketching I do is, like trips to the shaman, for medicinal purposes only."

about the artist.
Jenni's daughter, Angel Mae, was delivered prematurely at 20 weeks on February 28, 2009. She writes about her grief journey, and about adventures in step-mothering, at Demeter's Feet.