This artwork is part of our Sydney Contemporary 2024 presentation, exhibiting at Carriageworks 5-8 September.

Amber Hearn’s latest body of work is a series of self-portraits woven into landscapes that capture the anticipation of the arrival of her daughter, speaking to both the emotional and physical shifts within the body. The works highlight the complexities of labour and childbirth, whilst encapsulating the symbiotic relationship between the pain and beauty of that experience.

Says Amber of this work, “My Body Makes Way for You is a self-portrait that captures the anticipation of my daughter’s arrival – speaking to both the emotional and physical shifts within the body. Initially experienced as a landscape, this portrait captures the same sense of expansion and contraction felt in both spaces. The composition presents me as raw, unedited and evolving as the body prepares for an emergence – a new life. Vivid brush strokes create a sense of movement, embodying the ephemeral female body where organs shift and make space to nourish and nurture. Juxtapositions in the colour palette evoke the visceral sensations of curtaining flesh, blood, water and tears.”