"…the most beautiful description of the sourdough is the Spanish word, “masa madre” which is the “mother dough”. When a daughter in the past was going to get married, she received a piece of the mother dough with her in order to feed her family.” Karl De Smedt, The Puratos World Heritage Sourdough Library

Mother Dough is a photographic series capturing Amato’s 83 year old mother holding dough. While her attempt to hold the dough between her hands appeared fruitless at the time of shooting – sliding and slipping away by its own agency and gravity – it is only later, through the camera’s eye, the true nature of the material creating ‘momentary sculptures’ that morph and change between her grip, reveal themselves. These sculptures have an extremely short existence in the world, appearing at times to suggest male genitalia that then morph into female genitalia. Others appear as if a baby human dangles between her hands. The body of work reflects on the all time fascination humans have had with sex, death and life as Amato’s mother heads towards the final decade(s) of her life.