Motherhood in Four Acts is a publication about the sculptures and sculptural installations of Mexico-based artist Adeline de Monseignat (b. 1987, Monaco). It is also about the artist’s experiences of matrescence – the process of becoming a mother – and how these experiences are interwoven with her sculptural works.

Inspired by a theatrical production or play, the publication is structured in four acts. The first, titled ‘Earth’ presents the work Seedscape, which takes the form of smooth, rounded ‘seeds’ carved from sand- coloured travertine, exploring themes of the seed and its potential for life, the earth and fertility, pregnancy and the womb. The second act, entitled ‘Fire’, presents the sculpture Uketamo, which considers the experience of giving birth, the emptiness of the womb post-partum, and coming to terms with the newborn’s separation from the umbilical cord. Comprising an outdoor sculptural installation launched in 2024 at Casa Wabi Foundation’s Sabino site, the artist employs tezontle – a volcanic rock – to create mounds with empty spaces inside and mirrors at their bases, reflecting the sky.

The third act, ‘Air’, documents the body of work Skin to Skin, presented at Colector Gallery in Monterrey in 2023–24. The works evoke notions of a mother’s intimate first contacts with their baby, the proximity between them, the bringing together of their flesh, and breathing together. The final act, ‘Water’, revolves around the work Aurum, representing breastfeeding and the sense of the mother’s body producing and releasing milk and other fluids. In the work, a mother’s breasts take the form of a fountain, both a vessel and provider. A bronze version of the work, replete with basin and flowing water, was on show at MASA Galería in Mexico City in 2023.

Along with a foreword by Monseignat, the four bodies of work are discussed in a thought-provoking essay by Andrée Bober, curator and founding director of Landmarks, the public art programme of the University of Texas at Austin. The publication was made possible with the support of Colector, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas.