Mother (2009) is a video by Australian contemporary artist Tracey Moffatt. It forms part of the Montage video series created by Moffatt and her long-time collaborator Gary Hillberg. Created between 1999 and 2015, the series consists of a suite of eight short videos that draw upon a range of stereotypes from Hollywood films. Together they interrogate and re-frame the nature of representation in popular culture.

Mother compiles clips of mother figures from classic Hollywood cinema and television dramas. The figures range from the Virgin Mary and Mother Courage, to characters from Maude (1972–1978), Aliens (1986), Imitation of Life (1959), and American Gangster (2007). The characters play out scenes of care, loss, emotional manipulation, abandonment, and grief. The intense relationships between mothers and daughters are especially prominent.

Lasting almost twenty minutes, the work offers a commentary on the virtual umbilical cord that links mother and child. It also demonstrates Moffatt’s deep knowledge of different filmic genres. Clips range from comedic scenes in soap operas to emotional arguments in dramas. Regardless of genre, Mother features universal stories of love and angst between mothers and their children.

Tracey Moffatt was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1960. She is known for her photographs, films, and videos. She received her BA in visual communications from the Queensland College of Art in 1982, and currently lives and works in Sydney and New York. Although she consistently advocates for an Indigenous perspective on history, and is of Aboriginal Australian heritage, she refuses to be pigeonholed as an ‘Aboriginal artist.’

Moffatt draws upon both popular culture and her own life experiences in her artworks. Her storytelling is often full of drama and heightened emotions. She explores themes such as racial subjugation, maternal domination, gender stereotypes, class division, sexuality, and identity in an Australian context. Moffatt represented Australia at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017 with a solo exhibition titled My Horizon.

Moffatt’s career in experimental filmmaking and photography has made her one of the most respected Australian artists working today. In addition to Mother, her works in the M+ Collections include a series of twelve photographs titled Passage (2017), shown at the 57th Venice Biennale; a video called Vigil (2017), also part of the Venice presentation; and Lip (1999) and Love (2003), two earlier works from the Montage series.

Strong cinematic influences pervade Moffatt’s work, and offer an anchor point to the artist’s observations and reimagining of love and relationships. Mother and the Montage series reflect these important aspects of Moffatt’s artistic practice. They also complement M+’s growing collection of contemporary art hailing from the broader Asia-Pacific region.