BabyLove

Project for Empty Space is pleased to announce the completion of BabyLove, a twenty-eight page risograph artbook by multidisciplinary artist Christen Clifford. Clifford first wrote BabyLovein 2004, while working towards her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at The New School. This second edition reprint was created as a way to explore hindsight, as the artist reflects on her role as a new mother nearly two decades later.

From the horniness of the second trimester to first intercourse after childbirth; from masturbating while breastfeeding to scheduling sex, Clifford declares “Maternal Sexuality Deserves Attention.”

Clifford writes, “I wrote BabyLove in a rush- in the delirium of new motherhood. It was first published on Nerve.com in 2004. The comments section told me that my partner needed to divorce me; that my child should be taken away from me; that I was abusive. Some also wrote that it was the most honest depiction of new parenthood they had ever read.”

The second release of Babyloveincludes the addition of an afterword, which reflects on  the original response to the work, fifteen plus years later after it’s original release. It comes at a time when the culture around mothering has changed. A new paradigm, in which society casually embraces the trope of the “sexy mom” and “momedy.” Clifford challenges readers with the question- has the position of the mother in relation to her sexuality really changed? 

This four color artbook includes documentation of the artist's postpartum journey. Babylove is an edition of one hundred and fifty, ten with a special cover featuring Gold Leaf Breastmilk.

This iteration of BabyLove was produced in conjunction with the PES Story Lab, which partners with creatives and practitioners to develop printed matter, cultivating discourse around important social issues. We aim to promote artists whose work is oriented around social impact and create brave spaces for those artists and their audiences alike.