Motherhood by Darya Sokolova
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 120 cm
Year: 2024
Price: $2300.00 USD
Status: available
When I had my first daughter, we had just moved to a new country. I had no family around, no friends to lean on. It was just me and this tiny little human who needed me for everything. Sleepless nights, breastfeeding on demand, teething, a baby who never wanted to be put down… I was exhausted and so often thought, I’m failing at this. There were days I wanted to lock myself in the bathroom and disappear. But slowly, something shifted. I gave myself permission to slow down, to not rush back into work, to simply be there. And in that stillness, I realized how fleeting this season really is. The exhaustion passes, but the love stays. This artwork was born out of that chapter. She is tired, yet her gaze is full of love.
Why collect this work?
Motherhood sets an enlarged, unsmiling face against three repetitions of “LOVE,” making care appear less like sentiment than a sustained demand.
- Sokolova describes the painting as rooted in her early experience of motherhood after moving abroad. Her account identifies exhaustion and enduring love as intended themes, while the work’s force comes from holding those states together rather than resolving them.
- The photographed composition presses the face toward the canvas edges. Acid-green eyes meet the viewer directly, while heavy lids, an asymmetrical mouth, and the descending word “LOVE” complicate the portrait’s bright palette with fatigue and insistence.
- Documented as acrylic on canvas, the medium permits opaque blocks, sharp black contours, and layered-looking passages. Here, an orange line separates face from ground, but repeated blues and greens cross that boundary and prevent a clean division.
- Encountering this work places maternal care beside graphic portraiture and handwritten language, providing a specific case for considering how affirmation can function as repetition, reassurance, and pressure at once.
About the Artist
Darya Sokolova
Darya Sokolova is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Nationality: Kazakh
I create art for women who refuse to blend in. My portraits are bold, symbolic, and designed to be the statement piece in any space.
