CEMRE YESIL

LOHUSA:MILK & TEARS

The word Lohusa derives from ancient Greek which shares the same roots with the verb lying down. Lohusa means both the woman who recently gave birth and ‘the birth bed’ and it signifies the postpartum period. In Turkish culture the first 40 days after the delivery is special; both the mother and the baby would stay at home. In a very conventional setting, the mother should not even have sex in this 40 days and if she does, she would interrupt the process of being a Lohusa. Milk & Tears focuses on the challenging period of being a Lohusa. It looks at the family dynamics during the welcoming of a baby while trying both to embrace or find an escape from the never ending traditions of birth and the very act of breastfeeding. Departing from the breastfeeding Daguerreotypes which are long exposed photographs of breastfeeding mothers of the 19th century, Milk & Tears meditates on time and duration. The collection of dated storage bags of mother’s milk is perhaps an attempt to make a visual experiment on bonding; Is there more bonding as you collect more milk in the freezer and as dates pass by? The quest to understand or perhaps feel the women who breastfed their babies in front of the camera for at least several minutes, became a facilitator within my brand new way of experiencing and perceiving the time which was only through the acts of milk pumping, breastfeeding and sleeping. As my milk dried and as I felt guiltier, I kept asking my self; “How much time is needed?” ... for the correct exposure ... for enough amount of milk ... for a bound to be made ... for enough sleep ... for recovery ... for getting back in shape ... for becoming a mother

WE ARE BORN FROM MOTHERS IN BED
WE DIE IN BED
WE HAVE SEX IN BED
WE WRITE IN BED
WE EAT IN BED
WE READ IN BED
WE LOVE IN BED