To whom and what do we belong   Do we belong to the universe, to our planet, our country  Do we belong to our community, our friendship circle, our family  Do we belong to ourselves  The issue of belonging, always salient, seems critical in these times.

With the acceleration of climate change, we are acutely aware that our belonging to this universe, and more specifically to this planet, is precarious at best.  So too is belonging to country.  During the Trump tenancy and beyond, we were all faced with disruptions and dislocations that felt painful and dangerous.  Immigrants were not just unwelcome, but were incarcerated at our borders.  And then came Covid which threatened even further our sense of belonging.  We were isolated from those very institutions (family, friends, community) that helped us to feel grounded.  Our sense of belonging has, indeed, been deeply challenged.

Had this exhibition taken place a year ago, when it was originally scheduled, it would have been a very different show— one comprised entirely of assemblages.  In this work, represented by only a few pieces here, I attempted to take disparate materials (e.g., old wood covered by moss and lichens, wood that I had covered with collaged materials, slats that had been rusted and oxidized, pieces that had been painted with encaustic, acrylic, or cold wax with oil paint, wire, plaster gauze) and combine them in a way that made them “belong” together.  I chose to focus on belonging rather than its absence.

For me, the Covid year and a half brought new opportunities as well as new challenges.  I had the opportunity to make art every day and, in particular, to experiment with a new medium— oil paint and cold wax— with which I became deeply intrigued.  I began making paintings which I paired with poems that offered some comfort.  The paintings that emerged have some of the same tensions present in my earlier work (e.g., hard and soft edges, textured and flat paint, attention to both the surface and that which lies beneath the surface). In the process of making this work, I learned in a deeper way how I belonged to the art and the art belonged to me.  And, all of that helped me to belong to myself in a new way.

I have decided to show examples of each body of work— the first more conceptual and the second a life affirming endeavor during a time of great darkness.  I have discovered, yet again,  that even in the most dire circumstances, one can find rays of light and love, resilience and beauty.