Sasu and Kasei

A celebrated female member of the infamously male-dominated world of street art, Swoon became a sensation in the early 2000s, when she papered the streets of New York City with life-size portraits. Many of these works depicted strong women.

In that spirit, she created Sasu and Kasei, a portrait of a friend carrying her first son from the bath. This image, made in Tokyo, Japan, stands in a centuriesold tradition of representations of maternity. At the same time, it captures Sasu as she was trying to reconcile her role as an artist with her new identity as a mother. Merging the intimate mother-and-child image with the architectural structures of Tokyo, Swoon created an empathetic, hybrid artwork that incorporates block print, collage, painting, and installation.