Soltau remarks: ‘I gave birth to a daughter in 1978. At that time, it was not a matter of course for female artists to deal artistically with pregnancy and childbirth. On the contrary, it was frowned upon and didn’t help one’s career. These works must be seen against this ambiguous background. In the first picture I am two months pregnant. The pregnancy is not yet visible on the outside, but my inner state is torn. In the second, I am sitting in an old leather armchair, the expression is challenging and grotesque with an exaggerated laugh, the breasts displaced and the pregnant belly as if slashed and sewn up.’