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May 31, 2007
The Message
With all the issues facing us today on our planet... all those troubling, fast approaching sort of doom issues, it is no wonder that people, particularly artists, are expressing with such strong intent. This often happens without total awareness as to why it is being done in a certain way, not to mention the fact that many more people seem to be calling themselves ‘artists’ in the first place.
They are everywhere... oh, yeah… everyone is an artist. I used to say it in a sort of joking and almost condescending manor, but in truth, everyone is his or her own creator... creating whatever they do through their daily lives. Definitely, there seem to be more people feeling the need to express or communicate something, even when they are not really sure what or why.
As an artist, I am certainly one of these people, as we all reach for some level of understanding, and often in the oddest ways. I also look at all artistic expressions by others in a new light, since my endeavors with creativity in these last seven years. Often, I question why my subject matter is so important to me, and how this even started in the first place.
I observed and experienced these wonderful people in Mexico seven years ago, and again about three years later. They were so mysterious to me, and yet, so familiar.
The general population in this country has family history so rich and diverse, and usually very indigenous in nature... even when many would never want to admit so, which is another puzzling matter that can be at least slightly grasped, if one takes a little effort to learn their history. I was so drawn to them… so completely transfixed. I simply had to begin expressing this through my art, without really getting too deep about why.
It has been a few years since I have visited Mexico, but I have choosen to live in a part of Houston that is predominately inhabited by Mexicans and other Latin Americans. I am continuously reminded of what inspired me, as the meaning behind my creative endeavours become more apparent. I also stay informed, to some degree, with Native American issues.
Recently, I received an email about a gold mining company that has been threatening the way of life of a Mayan community in an area of Guatemala… again! It seems they are being displaced, and this is added to the many layers of traumatic, humiliating events that have occurred for so many years in this part of the world.
There were many photos posted on this link, with written material to explain what was taking place. Bodies were being recovered from mass graves. Many people were murdered nearly 30 years ago, just because they were in the way of those who wanted their land and it’s resources. The loved ones who managed to survive such grief, were carefully going through the identifying process, and readying for proper burial. They sang a song in their native language during the mourning ceremony, which translated to these English words:
Those who speak another tongue, give them love,
Those who think differently, give them love.
Do not differentiate between race or skin color,
Love everyone like kin and do what’s right.
To eternal friends, give them love,
And to those who don’t bother greeting you, give them love.
Now, as I ready for a solo show at a local gallery in town, I am seeing with new eyes, and understanding the depth of my interests from those first paintings which started seven years ago.
As we all reach for an understanding of what we are about, I began to see a higher level of ‘ourselves ‘as human beings in these first People who walked the land of the America’s. Having an ancient, nearly untraceable history of experience, many of these societies learned the balance in which to survive with dignity and grace. A sort of wisdom developed... a collective consciousness which had reverence and respect for all of life.
Some breeched these learned truths, and lost their standing in the balance. How familiar does this sound? Did we, in this country of America, other than those native to this land, ever know these truths in the first place? Somewhere, in most of our ancestry, there was wisdom... obviously, now so long lost.
When I paint these people who represent these truths, the message is quite clear... it is about the message more than these people. I love these people and their beauty, outside and within, but it is their wisdom and love of life that I wish to communicate... for all of us, as we face the effects of our many causes we have produced. Cause and effect... so simple a truth.
The Native Americans have these truths in their hearts. It is their message. What better way to bring these truths to the surface, for me, than to paint these enlightened Human Beings? It is always about the message of love.
I love knowing this, and feel even more clear about my purpose as an artist.
Posted by kay at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)