little mother (2018)
Patricia Leinemann
Artist Statement
In late 2016 at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, Patricia Leinemann viewed a textile display that was inspirational. She wondered how to create a layered installation of textiles that a viewer could wander through. After returning from Vancouver, she came across her collection of doll dresses. Along with her sisters’ collections, these mostly handmade dresses carry fond memories and made her question why we hold on to particular childhood objects. Patricia had to make assumptions to her questions because her mother died eleven years ago. Trough conversations with extended family, their mother’s desire for her girls to have a doll was because she never owned one. There was limited money when Patricia was young so she finds it fascinating that money was available for these dresses. She wondered if her mother was training her and her sisters to become mothers because being a mother was her greatest joy. Patricia questioned if buying had dressing her dolls influenced here future interest in dress-up, costumes, and good quality clothing in her professional life. She never had children of her own but maybe Patricia experienced being a mother while playing with her dolls. This supports her query if perhaps she always lived her life out of order.
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