Artist Statement
by Dani Arnold-McKenny, creator of WMW2011 logo
"The women are mirror images of each other to show that all women are the same regardless of race, ethinic background, religion, or culture. Yet sthey are different colours to celebrate the cultural diversity of women around the world. Their hands blend together in support and understanding of each other. Women coming together to support one another without barriers of race or religion, in a global community.
Artwork by Dani Arnold-McKenny
The babies are different colours to show mothers nursing babies that are not necessarily their own biological children. They represent adopted babies and wet-nursing/cross-nursing, and the babies arms are linked to show the sharing of milk. This is also a nod to milk siblings or "milk kinship" - a bond that is an essential part of several cultures around the world.
One mother wears an at-breast supplementer, an important way to supplement with donor milk, as the suckling baby provides nipple stimulation important to preserving and increasing the mother's own milk supply while she feeds donated milk. Also by using an at-breast supplementer, the baby is held in his mother's arms, is nourished at her breasts: breastfeeding is about much more than feeding breastmilk.
Being a mother of five, I seldom have the luxury of drawing anymore - unless you count drawing under the direction of my children: "Draw me a cat, draw me a car, draw me a butterfly!” About four months ago, while working feverishly to build up Human Milk 4 Human Babies Global Network, I put pen to paper late one night having been captivated for several days by an image in my mind's eye of intertwined mothers and babies. This picture is my vision of milksharing."
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