Marcelina Amelia is a contemporary artist known for works exploring themes of self-acceptance, female sexuality and power.

This artwork is Amelia’s reinterpretation of The Fountain of Life by Jan van Eyck.

Hailing from her Mamalia series, in which she examines motherhood, and its creations, inspirations and frustrations, the piece explores the wonder of the female body, and water as both a life-giving force and a vehicle for poison.
 
“Inspired by my experience of motherhood, as well as ideas of hydrofeminism and the concept of liquid bodies—both human and natural—Fountain reflects a modern interpretation of The Fountain of Life, linked stylistically and thematically to the work of Jan van Eyck.
“Let’s consider the fact that, besides fats, vitamins, lactose, minerals, antibiotics, and other life-sustaining substances, the milk of nursing mothers from North America likely also contains DDT, PCBs, dioxins, trichloroethylene, cadmium, mercury, lead, benzene, arsenic, paint thinner, phthalates, dry-cleaning fluid, toilet deodorants, Teflon, rocket fuel, termite poison, fungicides, and flame retardants. Limiting direct contact with toxins cannot undermine the fact that deep within our bodily archives, memories are stored, and our bodies are nourished by streams whose sources remain far beyond our reach.”
"Water as body; water as a connector between bodies; water as something that facilitates the emergence of bodies into the world. As entity, medium, habitat, and environment of transformations and gestational maturation. Everything contained within our watery bodies, seeping from them, sustaining them, and saturating them. 'But the body has its tides and ebbs,' as Virginia Woolf writes. We flow in and out in time and space—body, from body, to body." — Astrida Neimanis, Bodies of Water.
Water not only connects, gives birth, nourishes, and sustains life; it also troubles the same categories underpinning realms of social, political, philosophical, and environmental thought, as well as feminist theories and practices.
Is the fountain of life a life-giving force or a poison that feeds its child? This question prompts reflection on our liquid bodies as “storage units for emotions” while considering the state of the Earth and the environment.”
This giclée print with deckled edges is from a limited edition of 80, signed and numbered by the artist. Each piece in the limited edition is hand-finished with acrylic paint, making it unique.
 
Size (cm): 90 x 64.74