Mother Vérité: The Sculpture Putting Postpartum Strength on the Pedestal It Deserves

In London, only around 4 per cent of public statues represent women, and fewer still portray them as mothers. For a city that has immortalised power in so many forms, the absence of maternal representation speaks volumes. Mother Vérité rebalances the narrative, positioning motherhood not as private sacrifice, but as public strength.

Now on display in Portman Square - opened to the public for the first time in months - the seven-foot bronze by British artist Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark and championed by Chelsea Hirschhorn, founder of maternal care brand Frida, marks a cultural first.

Cast in bronze, the material of monarchs and military heroes, it is the first ever depiction of a postpartum woman holding her newborn — veined, swollen, cracked, softened, and entirely unretouched.

Rather than presenting the polished moment so often associated with the Lindo Wing — the statue’s original unveiling site — Mother Vérité honours what happens after the cameras turn away.

Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark, Chelsea Hirschhorn and Marine Tanguy

The veiny breasts and visible stretch of disposable underwear beneath her curves are not exaggerations, but everyday realities of postpartum life. It is, quite literally, motherhood in its rawest form rendered permanent in bronze.

The choice of medium and message is deliberate. D’Clark, a self-taught digital sculptor, interviewed and scanned a diverse group of 40 postpartum women to capture the physical and emotional truths of early motherhood. Through a pioneering process combining live casting and 3D rendering, she created a form that is both contemporary and timeless — a celebration of the maternal body as it really is, not as culture has chosen to idealise it.

For Hirschhorn, the piece extends Frida’s long-standing mission to break taboos around women’s health. The brand, known for its honest postpartum products and unflinching campaigns, has fought repeated censorship for showing what motherhood actually looks like from bleeding to breastfeeding. With Mother Vérité, that fight moves from the screen to the square, giving mothers the visibility and reverence they’ve long been denied.

“Motherhood is at once everyday and extraordinary,” says D’Clark. “By honouring the postpartum body, we’re recognising the courage of women everywhere.”

What’s most striking is the tone: not sentimental or sensational, but reverent. Mother Vérité doesn’t ask for pity, nor does it demand shock. Instead, it offers recognition of labour, endurance, creation and change. It suggests that strength need not look stoic to be powerful.

The installation arrives at a time when London’s cultural landscape is being quietly redefined. For too long, the public realm has commemorated power as conquest. With Mother Vérité, power is reimagined as nurture, resilience and transformation not hidden away, but placed at the very centre of public life.

On view throughout Frieze Week until 20th October in Portman Square, W1 the sculpture is a must-see: a bold, beautiful, and long overdue tribute to motherhood in all its truth.