2011
Mixed media (acrylic paint and paper) collage
SOLD
I was touched and inspired by a story I saw on NBC Nightly news after the earthquake in Haiti. It was about a 6-year-old girl in Haiti who had been separated and missing from her family for weeks after the earthquake hit. A UNICEF worker worked with the child to try to find out where she lived. The girl couldn’t tell her where she belonged. All she could do was draw pictures of where she thought she lived—pictures of the things that were familiar. She drew a house, a graveyard and some other landmarks. The UNICEF worker eventually pieced together her visual clues and reunited the little girl with her dad—right there on camera! I was srtuck by the power held in that little girl’s drawings. Her artwork saved her from losing the life she had known with her family. The more I thought about it, the more I began to consider how I am using my drawings and paintings to create the “story” of who I am as artist. I’m trying to figure out where I creatively “belong.” I began to think about how art is such a personal visual journey. I create things, and study them, trying to figure out where I’m headed. Which medium, subject matter, colors are the right for me? Where should I settle? Where is home? Just as the little girl trusted the UNICEF worker to lead her in the right direction, I have to trust my Muse to lead me toward my right destination one visual clue, one collage, one painting, one drawing at a time. Likely, as they say, it is not the destination that matters, but the journey. Inspired by these thoughts, I created this mixed media collage/acrylic work on canvas. It features mazes and labyrinths that are symbolic of searching and seeking, moving toward knowledge and clarity.
I was touched and inspired by a story I saw on NBC Nightly news after the earthquake in Haiti. It was about a 6-year-old girl in Haiti who had been separated and missing from her family for weeks after the earthquake hit. A UNICEF worker worked with the child to try to find out where she lived. The girl couldn’t tell her where she belonged. All she could do was draw pictures of where she thought she lived—pictures of the things that were familiar. She drew a house, a graveyard and some other landmarks. The UNICEF worker eventually pieced together her visual clues and reunited the little girl with her dad—right there on camera! I was srtuck by the power held in that little girl’s drawings. Her artwork saved her from losing the life she had known with her family. The more I thought about it, the more I began to consider how I am using my drawings and paintings to create the “story” of who I am as artist. I’m trying to figure out where I creatively “belong.” I began to think about how art is such a personal visual journey. I create things, and study them, trying to figure out where I’m headed. Which medium, subject matter, colors are the right for me? Where should I settle? Where is home? Just as the little girl trusted the UNICEF worker to lead her in the right direction, I have to trust my Muse to lead me toward my right destination one visual clue, one collage, one painting, one drawing at a time. Likely, as they say, it is not the destination that matters, but the journey. Inspired by these thoughts, I created this mixed media collage/acrylic work on canvas. It features mazes and labyrinths that are symbolic of searching and seeking, moving toward knowledge and clarity.
