Marion Lane
February 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Marion Lane is an absolutely talented artist.
She is also a bereaved mother.
In 1963 she donated a powerful art piece to the Brooklyn Museum, after the death of her 2 and 1/2 year old daughter, Paula Ann. Marion shared with me that she felt she needed to paint this piece and donate it to help her “move on”.
“Grief” by Marion Lane, 1963
I have found myself captivated by this piece. This is what I see:
First, her femininity is directly connected to her baby girl. One breast appears missing, while the other trails down to her daughter. She might have still been breastfeeding her daughter. We can’t see her eyes, but her mouth is very prominent – trying to communicate her anguish but feeling unseen. The bold colors and lines that connect to her baby, all run through her. The gold line stands out as a color of hope, and being in her hand seems to show her hope that in painting perhaps this very piece, something may be expressed or released – that she may find healing – because, the rest of her body is purple, as if it’s cold, a real part of her has died along with her daughter.
This week, she will be presenting her most recent work at WestBeth Gallery. Details below:
While most of her work is abstraction, this powerful piece will also be there:
This piece, entitled “Mother and Child” is a wall sculpture made of sheet aluminum, with some portions painted, and some unpainted.
This contrast, isn’t it powerful? The seeming flatness of the mother, the dimensions of the child, the trail of crimson that breaks through the seemingly black and white and continues to connect these two…
Please, take a moment to visit Marion Lane’s website to learn about more of her work and her future exhibitions.
One in Two Won’t
November 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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One in two American babies in utero,
won’t be alive at two months after birth.
Blue and Pink is the ribbon for Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness, as well as the NICU ribbon.
Blue and pink together also make purple, which is an appropriate color for babies who die early in pregnancy, when their gender isn’t known, because blue can represent dad, and pink can represent mom.
These purple beads represent babies who do not live to two months old, after birth.
If you are a parent whose child is older than one month old, if your child is “in the clear“
please, just take a look around you.
A purple bead is touching yours.
A parent around you has experienced loss
even if you don’t know it.
Tell everyone you know about stillbirthday.
We provide support prior to, during and after loss.
Here are two helpful links if you have not experienced loss: our Farewell Celebrations, and our information for Loved Ones.
Statistic Information:
Combined statistics information on pregnancy loss and neonatal death.
Or another way:
“Using 1996 data, this translates into 3.89 million live births, 1.37 million abortions, and 0.98 million miscarriages.”
source: MedScapeBut you can piece in your own numbers, and you’ll see that even annual numbers still reflect this average.
Include what is labeled as miscarriage, learn if it includes ectopic, molar and blighted ovum pregnancies, include elective abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death statistics and then compare them to the annual live birth statistics.This is not a message about pro-life or pro-choice, but simply on the reality and prevalence of pregnancy & infant loss as a whole, the unavoidable reality of parental bereavement and the potential for you to get to know the people around you and to discover their grief and the need for validation and healing.
