Becoming a Mother
This community-centered art exhibition explores women’s health, pregnancy, and motherhood through a combination of semi-abstract paintings and intimate, anonymous interviews. Inspired by the artist’s personal journey into motherhood, the collection is divided into three parts: the Menstrual Cycle, Pregnancy, and Motherhood. The exhibition will present these works alongside interview responses from a diverse group of women—including mothers, mothers-to-be, and women who don't have children—highlighting their shared and unique experiences. These interviews aim to spark dialogue and broaden public understanding of women’s experiences and needs.
The intention of this project is to create a space where people can learn and heal from sharing their experiences about becoming a mother, not becoming a mother, having a mother, or supporting someone who is a mother. This project seeks to center the mother figure: her experiences, her needs, her struggles, and ultimately, her celebration. The goal is for mothers to connect with each other and for those in their support networks to gain deeper insight into how they can show up more meaningfully.
This project is made possible (in part) with public funds from the Queens Arts Fund, a re-grant program supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.
If you are interested in an interview for the “Becoming a Mother” project, please see the questions below. The answers will be organized and presented during the exhibition anonymously.
Interview
Choose 3–5 questions that feel most important to you at this time in your life to answer.
Choose 3–5 questions that feel most important to you at this time in your life to answer.
SECTION 1: Women Who Are Mothers
Postpartum & Identity
How did you feel when you first met your child?
What did you need most during the first month postpartum? Did you get it?
How did you feel about visitations from family/friends during the first month postpartum?
How did your body feel and change after birth, and how did you relate to those changes?
What did you discover about yourself that you didn’t know was there once you became a mother?
What has motherhood taken away from you? What has it given you?
How has becoming a mother affected your work or creative life?
Relationships & Support
How did motherhood affect your relationship with your partner/family/friends?
What does “support” mean to you as a mother? Did your support system meet those needs?
What is one thing you continue to express to your partner/family/friends about your experience that continues to be unheard or misunderstood?
How has becoming a mother changed the way you see your own mother or parental figures?
How has your culture shaped your experience of motherhood?
SECTION 2: Pregnant Women / Expectant Mothers
What are your biggest fears? What are you most excited about?
What do you wish more people would talk about regarding pregnancy?
SECTION 3: Women Who Wish to Become Mothers
Have you faced any challenges or pressures in your journey toward becoming a mother?
What kind of mother do you imagine yourself being?
Have you ever felt “in between” categories — not fully choosing, but not able to proceed?
SECTION 4: Women Who Have Chosen Not to Have Children
How did you come to the decision not to have children?
What has it been like to share that choice with others?
Have you felt pressure—cultural, familial, or internal—to become a mother?
What assumptions do people make about you when they hear your choice?
How do you celebrate your life path, and what fulfills you deeply?
“Becoming a Mother” a community-centered art exhibition will debut in October 2025 at
Zaruma Gold Coffee (mother-owned and founded) in Queens, New York.
About the Artist
Shushanik Karapetyan is a New York–based Armenian-born psychotherapist, artist, and writer. Her interdisciplinary practice centers on themes of identity, memory, grief, and healing. Drawing from her practice as a Gestalt psychotherapist, Shushanik approaches painting with an emphasis on attunement and responsiveness to personal experience and environmental influences. Inspired by color, life cycles, and transitional states—like sunsets and seasonal shifts—her work reflects a deep engagement with change and transformation.