Mommy Dearest

Mommy Dearest expresses kink desire for care, comfort and safety provided by Dom(me)s. Many survivors of abuse did not experience care, love or affection in healthy and safe ways. For some, having a relationship with a human in which these needs can be established and met with trust, can be powerful and freeing. Mommy Dearest speaks to the parts in those of us who were abused and discarded, who desire to be cared for and protected. It speaks to my own experiences of ending up in foster care as a teen, due to being disowned by my parents for being queer and finding a healing space in kink as an adult. This painting also speaks to the inherent intersectionality of kink and queer identity. The leather and kink communities were welcoming spaces for gays and lesbians during the 1980s and AIDS epidemic. To forget or deny this, is to deny a significant part of our queer history.