About Us
About Us
We are two researchers committed to interdisciplinary collaboration, employing innovative methods to explore the challenges faced by mothers after their children have been adopted.
Our project explores the healing potential of artists’ books for mothers dealing with the profound emotional impact of having their children removed and placed for adoption. These mothers who have had traumatic experiences encounter many obstacles to accessing the support they urgently require. This is made worse by the lack of national resources and a lingering distrust of professionals.
This initiative hopes to address these mothers’ emotional needs by equipping them with a powerful tool for emotional healing, empowerment and self-expression. Whether they are affected by historic practices of adoption or contemporary care and adoption proceedings, the project aims to improve the availability of resources and provide a platform for a demographic that has historically been marginalised and underserved.
The project combines scholarly rigour with a compassionate ethos by bringing together academia, art and social welfare. We adopt arts-led participatory research methods that use the expressive and tactile qualities of artists’ books to share experiences in ways that go beyond words alone. Our vision is to enable mothers to harness the restorative power of creative expression as a means of reclaiming agency and fostering community and solidarity.
The mothers’ books you will encounter here have transformed the artist’s book from an artistic medium to a profound instrument of advocacy, healing and empowerment, offering a vision of research that transcends disciplinary boundaries and nurtures the human spirit.
Dr Stella Bolaki
Dr. Stella Bolaki is a Reader in American Literature and Medical Humanities and Co-Director of the Centre for Health and Medical Humanities at the University of Kent. Her scholarly pursuits are deeply rooted in narratives surrounding experiences of illness and wellbeing. Her creative and public-facing work has examined the artist's book as an innovative and versatile medium of communication in the context of community arts for health and social justice. Her interdisciplinary research continues to shape the discourse on literature, medical humanities and the profound impact of creative expression on individual and collective healing.
Dr Samantha Davey
Dr. Samantha Davey is a distinguished Lecturer in Law at the University of Essex, where she has served in this role since 2018. With a notable passion for interdisciplinary and inter-generational research, Dr. Davey has made substantial contributions to the field of law and social sciences. Her scholarly pursuits have resulted in the publication of influential books, such as "A Failure of Proportion: Non-Consensual Adoption in England and Wales" and "Grandparents and the Law: Rights and Relationships." Through her expertise and dedication, Dr. Samantha Davey continues to inspire and shape the academic landscape.
Our Funding
This project is supported by the University of Kent’s Participatory Research Fund (Research England) and Kent’s Impact Accelerator Account (AHRC IAA), Centre for Public Policy Engagement (University of Essex), QR and Rapid Response funding (University of Essex).