Belonging/s: An Object-led Reflection on Maternal Loss

In 1982, the eminent art historian J. D. Prown asked how one could and should interpret information ‘about culture, about mind’ encoded in objects, suggesting an openness to other well-established methodologies but ‘not until the evidence of the artifact itself has been plumbed as objectively as possible’ (Prown Citation1982, 1). Through the lens of memory-objects belonging to the author, and conjoining analytical and creative writing practice, this essay asks whether such forms of structured and sequential analysis could have any application to the processes and windows of life writing, and considers how the discipline of material culture can illuminate autobiographical and curatorial narratives associated with maternal grief-writing, and help attend to the challenges presented by writing the edges of life.