27 – Stefanie Moshammer

When Stefanie Moshammer was around seven or eight years old, she wrote a letter to “baby Jesus”, somewhat like a child’s request to Santa Claus, wishing that her mother be cured of her alcohol addiction. This letter went on to initiate Each Poison, A Pillow. Interweaving research and personal memories, the installation bears witness to the deep but tenuous affection binding mother and daughter. Between them lies the infamous letter; a pile of cushions on the floor revert to the title of this project, evoking both the comfort sought in alcohol, and a home, the place where alcohol misuse among women is most common. This Viennese artist took her personal story as the starting point for an approach without any judgement to the rarely discussed topic of alcohol addiction among women.