It’s a sunny morning in Bristol and I’m looking at a biological clock. Not my own metaphorical one, but an actual one: an hourglass in the form of two uteruses, complete with fallopian tubes. The sand has collected at the bottom: time has run out. The work is by the New York-based artist Lea Cetera, the title You Can’t Have It All. I give a wry laugh.
It’s part of Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood, a major group exhibition by Hayward Gallery Touring currently at the Arnolfini gallery, which aims to address a historical blindspot when it comes to mothers who are also artists. Curated by Guardian contributor Hettie Judah, it has been years in the making. As far as she knows, there have been shows about motherhood as an artistic subject, and shows about art made by mothers, but none that address the two entwined: motherhood as lived experience, and an engine for creativity.
