Sacraments to Baba Yaga
Water soluble oil, Acrylic, & Lipstick on Fabric stretched over stretcher bars, 6 x 8 in, May 18, 2026I eat-grow myself, Mother, because I love you
Acrylic, Latex, my Hair & Fabric on Mounted Cardboard, 9 x 12 in, August 11, 2026aislinnfeldberg7@gmail.com
@marred_butterflies
Aislinn Feldberg (b. 2001) lives and works in Queens, New York. Her work recalls a maenad’s dream about a mother daughter relationship and intense physicality. She uses organic materials, such as henna, fabric, soil and makeup to explore the relationship between concepts of the grotesque and the woman’s body. She is inspired by the abject, Asian and European folklore and feminist horror regarding womanhood, grief, the supernatural, eating disorders, women’s relationships with each other, themselves, society and men. Recent exhibitions include the Greenpoint Gallery and A Space Gallery.
Artist Statement
A maenad stirred in her sleep, opened her eyes and mouth, and recounted her tale of her mother’s shadow: “My mother is of the earth, yet not, I stuff her in, I mold her in my image- there is no Adam. No lover. No men. My father and brother have disappeared into our stomachs, ground down to the marrow, and they were delicious. No fathers and brothers exist here.
No.
Just me and my sisters.
Just me and my sisters.
- : of mud, my sisters’ clothes, hair, blood, hers and mine, paint for our faces and bodies.
I scream and wail as I ground my nails into the filth, the unnameable substance sticking to my cuticles, layered upon layer, and I cannot remove it. My sisters and grandmother hear and tremble. They try to console me, but I would not be consoled. I must finish, I tell them, Daughters Ascend their mothers. Her heart is down my throat, what remains drips from my lips onto the floor, yet her chalkboard voice drags tears from my eyes and it is all my fault- her stain is still here-, but it has seeped into my being, and I hate it. A buzzing cloud, a revelation that didn’t mutilate or dismember my conscience, but swells into every one of my organs. Cut. It. Out.
A bloated snake eating its own tail rips itself from the navel, mine? Or my mother’s?
I and my mother’s shadow are formless. And so I mold. Ever shifting into creatures passed down from mouth to mouth. A deformity’s beating, black form. I grind my mother with my teeth, swallow and spit her back out again, smile, and so I mold.”
—
The paintings in my body of work thrive on what is hidden, such as memory, photo references of my body, bodies of friends, poetry I had written, and books about the grotesque, folklore and brutal feminist stories. A tale for your children is a poem in itself, which alludes to my relationship with my mother and methods of coping, such as physicality (scraping paint/ bodily adornments with a palette knife and reapplying, and molding soil mixed with paint, with my hands. My use of the grotesque dismantles expectations society and my mother has for me. My labor- a continuous attempt-obliterates the power that my mother holds over me, but is ultimately liberating. My hope for the viewer is they feel encouraged to express their shame.
CV
Education
MFA in Painting, School of Visual Arts, NY
2027 (upcoming)
BA in Studio Arts, Bard College, NY
2023
Marred Butterflies
Senior Thesis, Bard College
2023
Residencies
SVA Artist Residency Project, online
2025
Artist Colony: Kids Only
A Space Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2024
Press
ArtVanguard, 2026
Somatic Reactions
SVA Artist Residency Project, online
2025
Artist Colony: Kids Only
A Space Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2024
Homage
Personaland, online exhibition
2024
Salon Show
Greenpoint Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2023
Awards
FVL Grant, Bard College
2022
Haney Award
Metropolitan Museum of Art, School Art League
2017