Lisa Sorgini
Lives and works in Australia
www.lisasorgini.com
In Passing
In-Passing began in 2015, the year Lisa gave birth to her first child and, shortly after, had the pain of losing her own mother to an illness. At first glance, it offered a therapeutic outlet for a new reality that did not seem to be his own.
Two identities, mother and motherless.
These events sparked what has since become a lengthy commentary, a visceral account of the chaos and intimacy of the family home during his children’s formative years. Saturated with the weight of this frayed separation from the one she was and the metamorphosis of her being into a mother set in motion in both body and mind, a transformation historically hidden and recognized.
Ordered in a non-sequential manner, this narrative warps time and swings back and forth, from the most immediately observed challenges and experiences of young motherhood to the now assumed role that will define much of the rest of her life.
Referencing death and rebirth, each image narrates a particular state in the cycle of her children’s development and their relationship, showing the difficulties, intimacy and emotional landscapes within the mother-child universe itself.
How long does a mother “carry” a child?
From the second week of pregnancy, a transfer of cells and DNA takes place between the fetus and the mother. Cells that contain DNA cross the placenta and enter the mother’s bloodstream, entering many organs including the heart, brain, and lungs, where they will remain for decades as studies have shown.
This phenomenon, called microchimerism, comes from the term “chimera” and refers to a mythological creature made of various limbs from different animals.
The mother as a chimera.
