Umbilical

It can be hard to discern the forms in this sculpture. The work depicts a cast of the inside of Antoni’s adult mouth at the round end of a spoon; at the handle end is a cast of the space inside her mother’s hand as she held the utensil. The sculpture’s title and elements call attention to the connections between mother and child and symbolize the biological, ritualistic, domestic, and nurturing aspects of motherhood that are passed from one generation to the next. Antoni also raises issues of class and privilege by suggesting the figurative expression “born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”