Pollux Awardee

Maternal Mitochondria’s project “Original Face: In the Water” is a part of the 19th Edition of the Pollux Awards, which will be followed by a show at FotoNostrum’s gallery in December of 2023. All of the winners in various categories can be found here. Look for us in Non-Professional: Nude and Figure!

“Original Face” is a long-term photography project documenting the female members of my family and placing them in collaged environments which speak to the sublime, the doors of life and death opening and closing, and the perspective of the hidden v the seen. When the male gaze is removed, what is left? Is this the female gaze, the gaze of the self-portrait? Who is the subject and who is the object. What does it mean to have a self, a no self, an existential void within an embodied subject.

This project was made in collaboration with my mother, the poet Miriam Sagan. We work together as “Maternal Mitochondria,” handing the camera back and forth, writing back and forth. Therefore the patriarchal hierarchy of artistic endeavor is broken, and the matrilineal line is strengthened. This is how we see ourselves and each other. This is how we see.

Woman Made Gallery

I will be in an upcoming show at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago! The 24th International Open runs from March 18th-April 22nd, and all of the work can be viewed online as well. Please contact the gallery for sale inquires.

Best in Show

I was surprised and very excited to receive “Best in Show” at this years Members’ Show with Foto Forum. It’s nice to know that my tired mom art was seen and appreciated by other tired parents!

For those who don’t know, Foto Forum Santa Fe is an amazing non-profit photography space in Santa Fe. They have all the equipment you need to do alternative processes and work in a darkroom! It also happens to be down the street from where I grew up.

And since personally I always want to know how a photograph was made- this was taken and mostly edited on an android phone.

“The Way Out”, 2022, Isabel Winson-Sagan

Please contact Foto Forum for sale inquires. 4 x 7 prints are $100, or $250 with a beautiful custom frame made of recycled metal.

Foto Forum Santa Fe Members’ Show!

Catch the annual Foto Forum Santa Fe Members’ Show! The opening reception will be Friday February 3rd, 5pm to 7pm. The show will be up until the end of March. For more information, visit Foto Forum’s website.

A small face peers out from between two legs in this black and white photograph. The dip of a navel, curve of the stomach, and v of a vulva are also visible.

Pecha Kucha Talk

Maternal Mitochondria presents “Seeing with Each Other’s Eyes,” as part of Vol. 15 of Creative Santa Fe’s Pecha Kucha Nights, “Perception.” Click on the link above to view the 6′ 40″ video, featuring visual art and spoken word poetry.

Pecha Kucha Night in Santa Fe

Maternal Mitochondria will be speaking at SITE Santa Fe on November 10th at 6pm. Reservations are required, however the talk will also be available online a few weeks after the event. You can reserve your seat on the Creative Santa Fe website.