Through the body of work In a Time of Milk and Honey, I reflect on the struggles and experiences of breastfeeding while using performance based photography and self-portraiture to represent a figure who expresses pain and strength and tells the shared story of many women. The work draws from my personal experiences with breastfeeding for nearly four years and specifically stemmed from my daughter rejecting months of supply due to an increase in lipase, an enzyme that helps the baby digest the fat content of the milk. In these works, breastmilk is both subject and material. Plants which support lactation, such as oats and thistle, become symbols for production and feelings of connecting to a timeless, physical function of my bodies. In the work Santa Saragoza, Patron Saint of Lactation and Labor, I embody the role of a new patron saint (a wink at official patron Saint of breastfeeding being St. Giles, a male hermit) as an act of solidarity and support for other women struggling with breastfeeding and maternal labors. The honey covering the figure symbolizes labor, and connects the efforts of a worker bee to produce honey to that of the mother’s work to produce milk. It also serves as a gold liquid–a parallel to the idea of mother’s milk being gold and I use it for its sweetness, thinking about the preciousness of motherhood. In a Time of Milk and Honey explores an experience often pushed to belong as a private act in the home within U.S. culture and largely invisible with little education. Representing this experience is also about valuing this vital labor and capturing contemporary depictions to be set within the history of photography.