I Made You to Find Me

Cai Yaling, Zhou Yujie, Magdalena Kallenberger;
 
curated by Li Yang

exhibition view, “I made you to find me”, group exhibition at alpha nova galerie futura, Berlin, October 2023 // photo credit: Ivonne Thein

Ich bearbeite die Zeit mit Nadelstichen (2023), large scale needle drawing, 90×120 cm

I am working the time with needle stitches (2023), large scale needle drawing, 90×120 cm

In the line “I made you to find me” from the poem The Double Image (1981), poet Anne Sexton speaks directly to her daughter while acknowledging the confusion and complexity of motherhood. Who is looking for whom? Where to look and how? Who has been found? What is lost?


The starting point of the exhibition project is the concept of ‘feminist mothering’ and how it manifests as a subject in artistic practice. Three visual artists explore motherhood, multiple female identities, and matrilineal threads from an intergenerational perspective, creating rich visual dialogues not only across generations but also cultures and nationalities.


Against the backdrop of feminist mothering, I Made You to Find Me thus invites (m)others, (non)mothers, daughters, care-givers, and more to imagine both the spatial and temporal paths to “finding” as well as the myriad possibilities of “being found.”



Magdalena Kallenberger continues her practice of including her child directly in her art. In the photograph We tried, but did not succeed (2023), Magdalena and her son positioned themselves head-to-head, assuming a push-up position amidst the backdrop of a volcano and patches of snow. Is the harsh natural environment a metaphor for the potential heaviness and bitterness experienced in motherhood? Does mirroring each other’s movements hint at the intersubjectivity implicit within the mother-child relationship that could be more supportive, fragile, intense, and assertive, encompassing a wealth of richness and complexity?

 
 

The exhibition takes place as part of Berlin Art Week from 15.09.-21.10.2023 at alpha nova galerie futura.