CRY OVER SPILT MILK
Procreate Project

Cry Over Spilt Milk is a mixed media display curated by Grace Acton Roberts, raising questions about the prevalence and prominence of breastfeeding. In the centre of the triptych sits Untitled I (2015) a framed print of a selection of Acton Roberts’ collection of breast milk.  To the left of the collection is 60 mls (2015), a sound piece by artist, Sinéad Bligh and on the right, Untitled II (2015) a vitrine containing a breast pump and accessories.
 
Grace Acton Roberts began collecting and documenting her breast milk whilst studying for an MA. Her daughter, 7 months old at enrollment, was dependent on breast milk. Milk was expressed up to 5 times a day to keep a supply available for when she was away from her daughter. The collections were often made many miles away from her daughter, sometimes in a private space, frequently not. 60 mls is a sound piece using a recording of Acton Roberts expressing milk within a dedicated quiet space, which doubled up as a Muslim prayer room at the university. The rhythmic sound of the pump becomes frenetic, almost panicked at the thought of interruption.
 
The works were originally displayed in a café space, the venue enabling an exploration of what society deems appropriate in the public and private domains, a space that often faces debate over allowing breastfeeding. Cry Over Spilt Milk opens discussion about the visibility and normality of breastfeeding, exploring how the female body and the mother/child relationship is viewed even in the absence of the mother and child.

Cry over Spilt Milk was included as part of the Procreate Project's launch an exhibition of over 100 artists creating work as mothers or work about motherhood. The exhibition was held at The Women's Art Library at Goldsmiths University on 15th December 2016 and has now entered the Special Collections. The exhibition took the format of an installation of a collection of photozines, which can either document or translate the artists’ works into the book format. Thus allowing the display of performances and visual artists alike. The audience is invited to read and interact with it as a growing, living archive.

The Procreate Project archival exhibition has now toured to Nottingham and New York City.
Grace Acton, 19/10/14 13:30, 2014
About the artists

Sinéad Bligh 
Sinéad Bligh practices through the media of sound and text (both online and in physical installation), video and performance, often employed through curatorial and artistic collaborations. She has acted as project assistant and editorial assistant on various events, publications and exhibitions at CHELSEA space London and the Cooper Gallery Dundee. Currently she is the Chelsea Arts Club Trust Research Fellow at CHELSEA space for 2014 – 2015, and works as an Archive Assistant and Researcher for the Barry Flanagan archive.

http://sineadbligh.com/