During this year of separation my mother became seriously ill. She was quite suddenly diagnosed with advanced cancer which was especially surprising as her life’s work has been in wellness and herbalism. In looking for new modes of art-making during the lockdown I came upon a packet of Score Keeper shooting targets. I have long made paintings based on patterns in textiles and wallpaper, thinking of them as prompts for memories of our experiences, so I was drawn to the strong formal compositions of these target papers. Being unable to visit or comfort my mother in her time of need I began a devotional practice of making drawings in her honor. I’ve made approximately one MAMA drawing a day as a love letter to her. I find that there is much creative problem-solving in devising new compositions within an already formally composed image. I try to think of her and about how joyful, ecstatic colors symbolize hope and freedom and represent an antidote to our difficult circumstances. The application of gouache gives these previously disposable papers new weight and turns them into small permanent objects. The act of making feminist totems about tenderness and care immediately revokes the material’s implicit connections to the historically masculine and violent sport of shooting which I like to think gives these works even more power. I embed the word “MAMA” into each drawing as an acknowledgement to my mother, to myself (also a mother), to my signature, and to the cross-culturally similar sounds of humanity’s first utterance.