Artist Rayvenn D’Clark’s newly unveiled Mother Vérité is a powerful act of public art — a seven-foot bronze monument rising in London’s Portman Square Gardens to celebrate the postpartum body. Commissioned by parenting brand Frida, the sculpture is formed from 3D scans of postpartum mothers from diverse backgrounds, merged into a single, ethnically ambiguous figure that bears the visible traces of childbirth. The work reframes the postpartum body as a symbol of life, labour, and transformation, foregrounding experiences often hidden from public view.
Working at the intersection of tradition and digital innovation, D’Clark — a graduate of Chelsea College of Arts — is known for blending body-casting, 3D-scanning, and haptic digital sculpture. Influenced by body-politics theory, she investigates individuality beyond collective identity, urging audiences to see people as complex, multifaceted beings. Her sculptures oscillate between hyper-real and other-worldly, using scale and form to explore the multiplicity of self.
Driven by a commitment to commemorate “hidden figures” and reposition communities of colour within visual culture, D’Clark’s work expands who is seen and celebrated in public space. The sculpture is the first of its kind in a city where fewer than 4 % of public monuments depict women and rarely with the authenticity of a post-birth body. With Mother Vérité, she not only redefines what is cast in bronze she reshapes the narrative of motherhood itself. The piece remains on view until 21 October before touring internationally.
