Monthly Archives: August 2009

Honor

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Honor

“Honor is more precious than my own flesh and blood.” So stated Marzouk Abdel Rahim, a Cairo tile maker, who stabbed his 25-year-old daughter to death at her boyfriend’s house in 1997. He was released from prison two months after the murder.

Across the world, primarily in but not limited to countries in the Middle East, women are victims of so-called “honor killings,” in which a family member murders the woman in order to cleanse the family name from some unpardonable sin. The transgression is usually a question of the woman’s chastity, and can range from actual adultery, to being seen with a man who is not a family member, to the woman being a victim of rape.

In this print, I chose to illustrate two young women reading a book. While Islam advocates the education of women, the education of women is nevertheless an issue in some ultra-conservative Islamic societies, so the simple act of reading may itself spark violence against a woman.

The background pattern is based on the warp and weave of thread, to give us an idea of how it may be to view the world through a full burka.

I used green ink since that color is linked to Islam, though there is some discussion as to the reason. Some say green was Muhammad’s favorite color and that he wore a green cloak and turban. Others believe that it symbolizes nature and life, hence the physical manifestation of God. In the Qur’an, it is said that the inhabitants of paradise will wear green garments of fine silk.

Independence of mind, body, and soul are worthy goals of all humans. Embracing the radical idea that women are also fully human, I hope this print helps remind viewers all that the goal of independence is still a long way off for some of us, and the price for pursuing it can be very high, indeed.

Honor
Linoleum block print with text overlay on acrylic, 2009
Edition of 12
Printed on Rives BFK using Daniel Smith water-soluble inks

*****
This print, along with two others of mine, is included in “In Memoriam: Women’s Lives Taken by Violence” in the Signature Salon at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda, California. The show runs through September 26, 2009. The opening reception is part of the First Fridays celebration, and takes place on Friday, September 5, from 7 to 9pm.

Other events related to the exhibit will take place throughout September, and include a showing of the film Until the Violence Stops, as well as poet Patricia Edith reading from her new book, 8 Student Nurses and other Dead Girls.

Home Makeover: Artist’s Edition

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One of the most difficult aspects of being an artist is you just have so much stuff. Canvases, printing press, computer, paper, paints, cardboard, things that are intriguing that you have no idea what you’ll do with, but can’t bear to throw out…. it gets crazy! One of the bulkiest things as artist will have are the coveted but awkward flat files.

Flat files, for those who don’t know, are filing cabinets for big, big sheets of paper. Like 30″ x 40″ sheets of paper. These files take up a lot of square footage, yet are also low to the ground, so waste a lot of air space.

My flat files are in my kitchen, tucked into a corner near the door into the garage/art studio. I had the genius idea of turning them into an extra seating area. I had a piece of 1/2″ plywood cut slightly larger than the files, and placed it on top of them. Then I went to the local PetSmart, and bought a giant dog bed. A few brightly colored pillows, and voila! I call it my seraglio.

Here it is in action:
Front view of the seraglio.

Hanging over it are two pieces of artwork I bought at two different Open Studios. On the left is “Elemental”, a monoprint by Ray Gwyn Smith, which Sarah-Hope and I bought last year at the Santa Cruz Open Studios. And on the right is a piece by Kytha Gernatt, an acrylic painting on paper which I bought in San Francisco around eight years ago.
Artwork above the seraglio.

Archy approves!
Archy makes himself at home on the seraglio.

Road Trip: Points North

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Sarah-Hope and I just got back from a lovely vacation.

First, we traveled north to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, where we went wild and saw four plays in three days: Macbeth, Equivocation, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry VIII. They were all very well done, but my favorite was Macbeth, perhaps due in part to the childhood influence of my mother reading us the witches’ scenes as bedtime stories, complete with scary witch cackles. We stayed with my friend Millie, whom I met on the very first day of the Camino de Santiago, where we encouraged each other as we climbed the incredibly long and steep trail over the Pyrenees.

We then traveled south to Fort Bragg, California. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world! A twisting road through old-growth redwood forests led to the rocky windswept California coastline.
The rocky coastline at Fort Bragg

While we spent a bit of time wandering around Fort Bragg’s downtown (if you go, you must visit Cowlick’s Ice Cream; it is the best!) we mostly spent the day at the beach. The water was the most incredible mix of blues and greens.
Waves at Fort Bragg

I got a bit wet taking this shot!
Close-up of waves at Fort Bragg

The waves left interesting souvenirs on the beach. An interesting twist of kelp:
Kelp on the beach at Fort Bragg

And the high-water mark outlined by seaweed:
High water mark at Fort Bragg

I took a nice walk along the coastal cliffs, while Sarah-Hope enjoyed the sun and sand while knitting on the beach.
Coast trail at Fort Bragg
The trail goes on for miles, and is actually an established walk, like the Pacific Crest Trail. We discovered a great book that describes the coast walk from Monterey all the way to California’s northern border. We’re talking about possibly walking a week-long section of it next year.

Wildflowers at Fort Bragg

Waves, fresh air, flowers, cliffs; pretty much a perfect day.
Ice plant in bloom at Fort Bragg

Walking the ‘Hood

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I’ve been busy lately churning out prints in preparation for the Santa Cruz Open Studios Art Tour this fall, so my walks of late have been limited to short ones in the neighborhood. Even though I’m covering familiar territory, I always find things of interest with which to amuse myself.

For instance, this is my favorite mailbox:
Mailbox with vision
The owners of this house followed their own particular vision when they built this.

It makes me wonder if perhaps we have a group of adherents of Artemis of Ephesus in the neighborhood.
Artemis of Ephesus

Or perhaps they have a penchant for modern art, and a great appreciation for the work of Louise Bourgeois. Bourgeois has been celebrated lately for her large sculptures of spiders, but her earlier work more directly addressed issues of gender and gender roles using biomorphic forms.
This piece is Destruction of the Father.
Louise Borgeois, Destruction of the Father

And this one is Janus.
Louise Borgeois, Janus

Or, a bit more obscurely, Lee Bontecue, who works largely with three-dimensional oval forms. This piece is called Untitled (as are many of her works).
Lee Bontecue,

You just never know.

Even Girls With Horses

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I got an email a while back from a fellow artist, inviting me to participate in an upcoming show at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda. The show, called “Eight Student Nurses,” is about domestic and gender violence, with an emphasis on “pieces that celebrate the lives of the victims without sensationalizing the violence itself”.

I immediately thought of a young woman I had known in college, one of a group of freshmen in my dorm my junior year. She was bright, energetic, with lots of energy and a big smile. I was shocked to learn last year that she had been murdered by her ex-husband in a custody dispute; the man later committed suicide on his way back home to his second family. I think part of my shock, apart from my personal knowledge of the woman, was based on assumptions of class and education. I went to Mount Holyoke College, one of the “Seven Sisters,” and while most of my friends there were from middle-class families, many attending on scholarships and grants, we still enjoyed what to most of the world was an incredibly privileged existence. And while I certainly know, intellectually, that domestic violence cuts across all economic, racial, religious, and any other lines one cares to draw, I still had a gut reaction of “it can’t happen here.”

This print is based on a photograph of my friend, taken when she was around 10 years old. She had just won several prizes in a horse show, and is posing proudly with her horse and awards. I wanted to show a young girl full of potential, proud of her achievements, and looking forward to a bright future. But in an overlay, casting a shadow over her, is the warning that violence can strike anyone, “even girls with horses”.

Even girls with horses

There will be three more prints in this series. Each print will show young girls and women from different parts of the world, all active, strong, and happy, and looking forward to full and rewarding lives. Each print will have a shadow text of warning hovering over it.

* * * * * *
“Eight Student Nurses” will be on display in September, and there will be readings and films accompanying the show. I will post details closer to the actual time of the show.