A Daughter�s Under-Taking: Sarah Hutt�s �My Mother�s Legacy� Bowls

 

A Daughter’s Under-Taking: Sarah Hutt’s “My Mother’s Legacy” Bowls

      Earlier this summer, Rochester Contemporary's gallery space was graced with an exhibit titled "Absence/Excess/Loss". One of the pieces was particularly memorable: My Mother's Legacy, a 1,000 line poem by Boston, MA artist Sarah Hutt. The lines of Hutt's poem are burned into the bottoms of wooden bowls in all shapes and sizes.

      Phrases that make up the poem are taken from memories of her mother, who died of breast cancer at 47 when Hutt was 13; photos on the web site all show her mother at Watertown, NY.

      Lines of the poem include: "My mother turned bowls over to see where they came from", "My mother said always remember to say thank you", "My mother wrote lists disguised as verse", "My mother said don't trust a man that can't dance", "My mother read me to sleep"... Bowls are exhibited piled onto tables, the poem to be ultimately read at random.

       A book containing all of the 1,000 lines written on the bowls has been compiled; to order, send a check or money order for $15 to Sarah Hutt, My Mother’s Legacy, 1140 Washington Street #7, Boston, MA 02118. Or visit www.sarahhutt.com for info.

 

Orig publ in The Other Herald #10, Aug 2007