July 2008

The Newbury House Dictionary of American English defines patriotism as “ a feeling of love, loyalty, and support for one’s country, especially in defense against its enemies.”

In United States of America, the word and concept of patriotism are an active part of the country’s political and social vocabulary especially since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The American flag thus is displayed throughout the country’s landscape becoming a visual language for U.S. citizens to show their love, loyalty, and support for their country. However, some of the ways the flag is presented and used (i.e. commercial objects and clothing) are questionable and makes one wonder if patriotism has become an idea ridiculed by consumption and commercialism.

Furthermore, United States in its unique making as a country configured by the conjunction and diversity of cultures makes the meaning of the word patriotism a vague one. Immigrants from every corner of the world have made of this country not only their home but also their homeland keeping it as close in their hearts as the one they came from.

It’s My Flag, three flags made out of photographs taken from the everyday, and Homeland of Many Nations, a flag made out of 256 American flags (one for each country in the world) explore and present these two notions.

To contact this artist:
www.ireneperez.net

JUNE 2008

Aviva Alter’s work is concerned with questions and statements that define human nature and experience yet have no certain answer.
The materials she uses in her work are familiar to her in that they have been worn by or fashioned after people she knows or has known. In this installation she uses a shirt worn by her late mother with an embroidered script stitched across the front “how can you measure pain”. With a similar yearning she has made a quilt-like wall piece that states ”exhale one last time” stitched across her own mattress pad that she has pieced together surrounded by narrow strips of a well used white woolen army blanket.

These pieces come together to remind us that we can not easily quiet the emotional residue that we long to leave behind. They bear witness to the reality that our questions are not easily answered.

to contact this artist:
{encode=”avivastitch@gmail.com” title=”avivastitch@gmail.com”}

May 2008

ALAN LERNER’s work explores acts of violence in a war time context, as well as conflict in the context of every day civilian life. Through juxtaposition of injury and death as a common daily experience in the war on terror, with civic rituals, he attempts to illustrate society’s need to “honor” and commemorate such conflagrations of geo-political conflict from a distance. The pomp and circumstance of the parade marching band bears a resemblance to the discipline and blind allegiance of the military ethic. The use of potential dangerous language is a flashing point in our society’s inability to “just get along”. Our alphabet functions as a minefield of words.

Lerner uses digital imagery, screenprinting and sculpture using crowd control objects, to present a polished display of incendiary materials.

To contact this artist:
awlerner@sbcglobal.net

April 2008

Cocoon

Protective covering
Wrapping
Casing
Transformation
Alteration

Birth

Death

Does culture matter?
Does gender matter?
Does preparation matter?


How do we cope?

In June, 2007 Claudia Bucher and I created the performance art piece,
“Will it make any difference?” for Waldkirch Theater, Waldkirch, Germany in which part of the work involved my wrapping and sewing Claudia into a cocoon. Since that time, the notion of the “cocoon” continues to intrigue me and I am exploring the concept in different forms.
For this piece, Carole Hennessey graciously allowed me to wrap and sew her into a cocoon.

Rose Camastro-Pritchett
www.rosecamastropritchett.com

March 2008

Ricardo Blanco-Gonzalez (born 1966) began painting when he was two or three years old. Since then, painting, and creating art in general, has been his refuge. His talents were noticed early, and he received a scholarship to study Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. After studying there for two years, he left to work independently.
His work is about memory. “Colors in European stained glass windows from childhood trips to churches. Vietnamese suffering (on TV), images of earth as it was first seen as whole – and its destruction.” There is a physical and emotional component to the work. The two are used singularly as a means to express the complexity of Mr. Blanco-Gonzalez’s experience. We sense the need to find grounding through his use of color and stroke. This has the effect of seeing them as one sees the city at night – driving quickly through rainy streets – leaving only a stream of light behind: impressions. These works are a colorful journey for the eye, and yet their beauty is deeper because they evoke the mystery of the emotional world.