Sarah Dolan

"Mama This Way"

Relief printed leaves on handmade artist paper

5.5"x 36"

2020

“Mama This Way” is an accordion book, measuring 36 inches long which is also my young daughter’s height. The book was hand-printed with found leaves collected by my daughter on the frequent walks we would take around the neighborhood during stay-at-home orders. It is titled “Mama This Way” because that is what my daughter would say to me as she decided which way we would go on our walks.

"Alone and Not. All at Once."

Colored pencil drawing collaged onto 3.5 year old's drawing

11x14

2021

The piece “Alone and Not. All at Once”, is a color pencil drawing collaged onto another drawing created by my three and a half year old daughter. This work examines time spent social distancing as a mother of a toddler.

In this piece, I depict myself looking out of a house made from my daughter’s colorful magnetic tiles. My daughter uses these to build houses for her toys to play in. All day I play with my daughter, which is not so different as to what life was like before the pandemic, except now we cannot leave. There are not as many play dates, there are no playgrounds full of children that she can play with, there are no more story times at the library, and there is no preschool.

With fewer options for safe childcare, mothers have found their roles at home magnified throughout the pandemic. Many mothers are burned out after over a year of living this way.

My daughter and I are together all of the time. Even though I am socially distanced from most of my peers, I am never physically alone. There is always the sound of my child saying “mama” somewhere near me. It is the odd feeling of being alone and not. All at once.

Sarah Dolan is an artist and mother living in the Washington D.C. Metro area. Her work has recently been shown at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Adah Rose Gallery in Maryland, and the University of Texas Rio Grande. Sarah earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston and her MFA from George Mason University in Virginia. Sarah is an adjunct professorial lecturer at American University in Washington D.C.

Website: http://sarahdolanart.com/

Insta: sdolan_arim