The Perfect Mother.

“Martha Olson makes her personal ghosts into an inescapable reality for the rest of us. Strong, unrelenting and issue-oriented, the four paintings in this series reach a level of intensity seldom seen in Washington art. Deprived of her legs, her multiple, veiny breasts dripping milk, “The Perfect Mother” emanates an excruciating despair. Her fate is sealed in “The Hatchery,” a depiction of woman as reproductive machine. In all these works, a scrappy, painterly execution and dissonant, melancholy palette reinforce Olson’s vision of feminine misery, while references to previous art establish its persistence.”

Alice Thorson, The Washington Times. The Figure as Symbol at Touchstone Gallery, 1987.