The Hand that Rocks

 

“The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.” — William Ross Wallace 

 

Drawing from the medieval visionary Hildegard of Bingen—who envisioned the female body as a vessel that advances, nourishes, purifies, and cares for future generations—this exhibition considers the mother as creative force: giver, medium, and traveling guardian. Mediating between the wider world and the world-to-come embedded in the growing child, the works trace the living bonds between woman, vessel, and world.

 

The artists resist a single approach. They explore multiple facets—sometimes in harmony, sometimes in conflict—yet the breadth and emotional force of the work ultimately forms a compelling reflection on the worth of motherhood. The exhibition foregrounds the private capacities of mothers—hands that hold, nurture, and propel—and lifts them from the dismissal they too often encounter in our current social order.

 

Castello 6668 Collective formed at the Royal College of Art, where it staged its first motherhood exhibition, All Love Begins and Ends Here (2025). The show explored complex, lived experiences of motherhood beyond the venerated European trope of the Virgin and Child. The project led to a feature in the journal Mothers and Mothering Throughout the Life Course, Fall 2025 issue.