The Missing Mother

Dr. Andrea O' Reilly is internationally recognized as the founder of Motherhood Studies (2006) and its subfield Maternal Theory (2007), and creator of Matricentric Feminism, a feminism for and about mothers (2016) and Matricritics, a literary theory and practice for a reading of mother-focused texts (2024). She is full professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at York University, founder/editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative and publisher of Demeter Press. She is coeditor/editor of thirty plus books on many motherhood topics including: Feminist Mothering, Young Mothers, Monstrous Mothers, Maternal Regret, Normative Motherhood, Mothers and Sons, Mothers and Daughters, Maternal Texts, Academic Motherhood, Mothers on Finding and Realizing Feminism and Mothering and Covid-19. Her collection Maternal Theory: Essential Reading (2021) has been used as a course text in university classes around the world and is regarded as the foundational text in Motherhood Studies. She is editor of the Encyclopedia on Motherhood (2010) and coeditor of the Routledge Companion to Motherhood (2019). She is author of Toni Morrison and Motherhood: A Politics of the Heart (2004); Rocking the Cradle: Thoughts on Motherhood, Feminism, and the Possibility of Empowered Mothering (2006); and Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, and Practice, The 2nd Edition (2021). She is twice the recipient of York University's " Professor of the Year Award" for teaching excellence and is the 2019 recipient of the Status of Women and Equity Award of Distinction from OCUFA (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations). She has received more than 1.5 million dollars in grant funding for her research projects including two current ones: " Millennial Moms" and " Mothers and Returning to ' Normal' The Impact of the Pandemic on Mothering and Families." Martina Mullaney is currently Post-Doctoral Researcher on the Feminist Art Making Histories Project at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dú n Laoghaire, Ireland. She holds an AHRC-funded Ph.D. in art from the University of Reading 2022. Her Ph.D. The Missing Mother by practice and thesis asks ' How art on and of maternity can transcend its own audience? She convened The Missing Mother Conference in 2021 from which this publication comes. After the birth of her daughter, she initiated the project Enemies of Good Art 2009 a multi-disciplinary research project interrogating motherhood as experience and the art world. The project was executed through a series of public meetings, performances, lectures, and live radio discussions. Enemies of Good Art broadcast on Resonance 104.4FM between between 2021 and 2012. Events took place in London at; Tate Modern, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Southbank Centre and Chisenhale Gallery. In Europe at Tranzit Display Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic and Galerija Nova, Zagreb. She has worked on visual project with Balenciaga, Paris, The British Council, Sri Lanka and Georgia, Cork Film Center, Gallery of Photography Dublin and Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales. She is a recipient of the Red Mansion Art Prize, London and China. Her work has been exhibited with Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, Franekel Gallery, San Francisco, Artwall Gallery, Prague and The Mission Gallery, Swansea.