On the desire to become a rock

I picked up a flint pebble because it resembled a pregnant torso, a small sculpture created by the elements. As time passed I began developing body like sculptures that resembled rocks. I was interested in expressing somatic feelings, what it feels like inside the body. I was also thinking about embodiment - our relationship to the earth, my relationship to the landscape I grew up with, in Malta. And embodied knowledge, or inner knowing.  

At this time I was into my 8th year of motherhood, with 2 sons aged 8 and 4. My transition to motherhood was seizmic.

But now, 8 years in, I began to feel more grounded. A vision of myself as a rock kept coming to mind. Channelling yoga poses, I knew I wasn’t a mountain, I felt myself a sea rock, being pushed by the waves, knocking the other rocks. I felt grounded but also moving, changing. Submitting to the forces of motherhood and the forces of the little people who made me a mother. I was being weathered - getting smoother – adapting – learning. Yet still I was becoming a rock.

Photos by Lisa Attard.