Our artists offer compassion, solace, hope, and a challenge to make things better.
Also please see a poet’s response.
The basic premise behind my work is faith, family and legacy. It is a time capsule for the African-American experience. I am always looking at how the past relates to the present, and whether or not things have changed or remain the same. There is always a history built into the pieces, whether through process or actual materials. I often use heirloom fabrics, and I think that is why so many people can relate to my work.
This piece is a statement of solidarity with women worldwide. I hope that in their traditions, they find the solidity and cause for hope that I find in mine.
When my friend, Beverly Hill, first started telling me about the atrocities still being committed against females around the world, I was shocked and horrified, as I’m sure everyone is after seeing the Gendercide Awareness Project display. To me, the horror is not just about the deaths of girls, it’s also about the rejection of and the violence against the feminine nature of our existence. In reflection, I’ve realized that when I enter the creative state where my art occurs, I’m entering the mysterious feminine side of the universe. The world I experience and try to portray is, for me, female in nature.
In response to the GENDAP exhibit, I can’t offer a political art piece or a protest piece because I don’t even know how to do that. All I can offer is an invitation into the world I explore, the space I was introduced to from the day I was born by my mother, my grandmother, and my three aunts.
It would take many exhibitions and artist talks before I realized that these were self-portraits and my cry for help. I am a survivor of domestic violence; this body of work is a reminder that some secrets should not go untold.
To correct injustice against women, the positive role of men who step in to help and support women becomes priceless.
I’m interested in the transformation of discarded materials into new form. In the creative cycle, I ask myself, can I pull a second life, a metamorphosis, out of something which has reached the conclusion of its useful life? Can this be a metaphor for the women of the world who have been treated disrespectfully and discarded? I believe it can.
Diana, the Roman Goddess of Nature, Fertility and Childbirth was also the moon-goddess. I’m always amazed when the materials I use find their own voice in a creation, and in the case of “Moonglow”, Diana seems present as the protectress of all women.
Engaging with Gendercide Awareness has expanded my consciousness of the vulnerability and abuse of women, and I hope “Moonglow” will invoke the spirit of Diana in us all to protect and value feminine work and life.
Collage is a process that mirrors the way the detritus left by human migration across space and time collects and is evidence of that passage. Clothing and other objects meld together to form undulating forms that express of different emotions: both hope and lament. The forms often also relate to the natural terrain crossed on a journey from one home to another: oceans, deserts and mountains. Full Fathom Five is a work that represents the migration across the Mediterranean Ocean. Its colors and shapes are reminiscent of sea anemones and ocean blooms, but are made of fabrics and articles of clothing used by women that also remind the viewer of a human presence. The piece is dedicated to the women and their children who have made this journey on their search for better lives.
“You are the child of the universe; no less than the trees or stars. You have a right to be here.” -Desiderata
Dedicated to all the lives that could have been fragrant blossoms in the garden of life. And to every woman who is carving her distinctive niche and spreading the scarlet scent of love and peace all around.
My Art and God was my Savior. They rescued ME.
I am grateful beyond words that I am alive and still creating.
