Working together for inspiration in this artistic collaboration, artist/poet Cat Christensen and I ended up with a moving collection of work that not only speaks to motherhood and the complex emotions involved, but also romantic relationships combined with traumatic experiences and the pain and heartbreak that women all too often endure.
I had 24 hours to create the first painting, then I sent the image of the painting to Cat and she had 24 hours to write a poem as a response to what I painted. The collaboration went back and forth like that for two weeks.
We never discussed a direction or a plan for these pieces,
Because I went first I decided to start with a painting that I had wanted to do for a while for the wonderful lady who inspired me to start painting again. The subjects are her granddaughter and her cat.
I painted this in response to Cat’s poem – Full Circle. We were not only working on this collaboration during CoVid lockdown but also so much was going on with the Black Lives Matter movement. Cat’s lines about faith and love being the answer reminded me of all the people who send “love and prayers” but don’t take any real action. I thought about how people of colour must be a fed up with being prayed for, how much better it would be if we all did something to make a difference instead of offering empty words.
I am in contact with Black Lives Matter to find out how I can donate profits from the sale of this painting to their charity.
Cat’s poem “Soft Response” again brought to mind those waiting on prayers to be answered when so little is being done. When people of colour aren’t being treated fairly, we are rapidly destroying out environments the world can seem extremely cruel and hopeless. I wanted to depict this in this painting but I also wanted to add some hope too represented by the dandelion. Most people see these flowers as weeds but they are still beautiful, they are survivors, they are also full of vitamins and nutrients.
I didn’t intend for the starving man to be a refugee but I can see how Cat interpreted him as such. Aside from the first painting I did we never discussed the reasons behind the paintings or the poems. But since she brought refugees into the picture with her last poem it called to mind for me stories I heard from my friend Tam who as a boy lived as one of the Vietnamese “boat people” in the late 1970’s. He and his family were at sea for at least 6 weeks almost entirely without food or water. And today there are still so many refugees out there, desperate to find a safe home.
I am reaching out to refugee organisations to donate the profits for the sale of the refugee paintings to them
The feeling I got from Cat’s poem still gave me the sense of just hoping things will get better and not taking action. I thought about perspective and how when we see things at a distance they don’t hit close enough to home. 422 people on a boat just looks like colourful dots. So I thought bring it closer. This image is of one of the Syrian refugees and her child. The anguish she feels is evident as is the exhaustion of her much too thin child.
I am reaching out to refugee organisations to donate the profits for the sale of the refugee paintings to them
This painting is actually a response to Cat’s original response to my painting of the refugee woman and child. She initially wrote:
Last Tag
Awash in fresh tears,
Longing for sanctuary,
Scanning horizons.
Slippery safety,
Stretched thin within and without,
She begs for a chance.
Which brought to my mind homeless children I’ve seen on the streets and in documentaries and how they are begging for a chance at a life without hunger and pain.
This painting has already been over-judged and misunderstood. People seem to want to read it as me fat shaming or poking fun at people with eating disorders, when that is absolutely not the case at all. I specifically chose to zone in on just the face so there’s no way to know what type of body this person has. The commentary is purely about over-indulgence, which EVERYONE in western society is guilty of at one point or another. We are a fast food, give it to me NOW! culture. Cat had written in her previous poem about how the homeless boys had been overlooked and that is exactly what the society that we live in perpetuates. Overlooking those in need.
Cat’s previous poem speaks to the apathy that is rampant and growing exponentially by the day. People aren’t hungry for a change for the better when all they have to do is change the channel. I didn’t get to properly finish this piece and I will go back and work on it. I hope the message is clear though.
