Creation Myths for an Age of Despair
"Creation Myths for an Age of Despair" is a forum for visions of hope. The mixed media paintings incorporate personal commentary and insights from scholars, writers, and persons involved in humanitarian service. The artist sought a visual conversation with an international array of ethical individuals to present some nuance of their internal vantage point from which they see the contemporary world.
At the genesis of each mixed media painting, each participant is asked to contribute what he/she would leave as a mark on a wall in the 1990's for generations to come. These mixed media pieces establish for the viewer the self-reflection of participants. The artist sought to facilitate the first step towards understanding the participant and their worldview in his or hers own terms. Upon completion of the piece, each participant has an opportunity to see the work and write a response for the viewing public about the shared vision.
The mixed media paintings consist of juxtaposition passages of atmospheric light, the dark spatial expanse, earth, and a multitude of wall surfaces. A wide spectrum of materials are used allegorically to reference myth, meanings and context to the participant’s offering. The atmospheric light set time and mood, as light is the earliest sensory impression in the human being. By keeping the visual vocabulary in this series simple and immediate, the viewer could engage the work. The participant's statement allowed a direct communication with the public which was not edited, screened, or manipulated for any other purpose.
C 1992
Awaken
Co-Participant: A.T. Arlyartne
Media: Acrylic on canvas, wild rice, earth on hard board
Dimensions: 72H x 48W in
Dr. A.T. Arlyartne's reflection upon seeing the completed painting:
Every thing changes just every moment. There is nothing that can be called permanent. Our body and our mind and everything around us is very transitory.
If we could live from moment to moment with unconditioned mind, every moment of living is sure to become most successful and satisfying.
May the 90's help all of us to enjoy this joy of living every moment.
Windows
Co-Participant: America Sosa, Mothers of the Disappeared
Media: Acrylic on canvas, mustard seed, cement, dried flower, barbed wire
Dimensions: 68H x 72W in
Angels Fly High
Co-Participant: Dr. Amos Funkenstein
Chair, Jewish Studies University of Berkeley
History and Philosophy of Science
Tel Aviv University
Distinguished Scholar, University of California
Media: Acrylic on Canvas, Cement, Carbon, Marble, Granite
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
Dr. Funkenstein's reflection upon seeing the completed painting:
In his treatise "On the Soul" Aristotle distinguished between the passive and active, creative understanding: Just as the former must become everything, the latter makes everything it grasp. Creative work is certainly both; it identifies with its object, it makes its object, it is passive and active, labor anguish, slavery and total freedom. It is "For man is born to labor, but angles fly high" - Taken from the Book of Job
Dare to Care
Co-Participant: Christopher Ford
Media: Acrylic on canvas, cement, chicken wire, dirt, sand, cement on board
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
Christopher's reflection upon seeing the completed painting:
We stand here in the light to be seen and investigated by youth. With nothing but our red berets and white t-shirts, we face those things we all hope will just remain lurking in someone else's reality.
We are many who walk as one, and, through our vigilance, we see true social change can only be defeated when those of us that are good remain inactive.
Enlivened by grace
Co-Participant: Dr. John B. Cobb Jr.
Media: Acrylic on canvas, cement, earth
Dimensions: 70H x 80W in
Date: 1990
Participant's Mark for Generations to Come:
"Enlivened by Grace"
Dr. John B. Cobb Jr.
Executive Director of the Process Center
School of Theology at Claremont
Claremont Graduate School
Dr. Cobb's reflection upon seeing the completed painting:
"What have we that is not a gift? Certainly not life. To know life as good is to know that gift as grace. To know the gift of life as grace is to live gracefully and gratefully, not seeking to control life but to let it flourish.
The life that is a gift is not only or primarily our individual lives. It is the shared life of humanity and of the biosphere. All life is given to each of us individually, and our individual lives unite us with all. Refusing the gift, or seizing what is given as if it could be owned or possessed, leads to its oppression and destruction. The degradation of life anywhere impoverishes us all. Graceful and grateful living enlivens all, or more truly, allows grace to enliven all.
Humans are not Helpless
Co-Participant: Professor Norman Cousins
Media: Acrylic on canvas, earth
Dimensions: 70H x 72W in
Professor Norman Cousins's Statement:
Humans are not helpless. They have never been helpless. They have only been deflected or deceived or dispirited. So long as people have a vision of life as it ought to be; so long as they comprehend the full power of an unfettered they can look at the world with confidence that they are living in a sterile or hostile arena.
into the darkness
Co-Participant: Starhawk Feminist Witch, Author
Media: Acrylic on Canvas, Cement, Shells, Herbs
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
Date: 1990
Co-Participant's Mark for Generations to Come: DOUBLE SPIRAL
Starhawk's reflection upon seeing the completed painting:
Birth, growth, death, rebirth
The spiral of renewal and regeneration
The sacred place at the end of the winding passage
Where life transforms the labyrinth
End and beginning of desire.
Self Determined Imagery
Co-Participant: Theresa Harlan
Media: Acrylic on canvas, mortar, copper shale, earth
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
the everlasting arms
Co-Participant: Dr. Majorie Hewitt Suchocki
Media: Acrylic on canvas, earth, sand
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
Participant's Mark for Generations to Come:
"Trust, Underneath are the everlasting arms"
Dr. Majorie Hewitt Suchocki
Process Theologian
The School of Theology at Claremont
Dr. Suchocki reflection upon seeing the
completed painting:
Years ago, in a winter of deep distress, we
decided on a whim to go coasting on the snowy hills at midnight. And so we found the old sleds, and went through the woods. But when we broke away from the trees and stood at the top of the hill I felt my breath almost cut off by the unexpected wonder. The night sky, so dark that it matched my despair, was torn apart by stabbing glows of unmatchable beauty. The northern lights, seldom seen so far south as Ohio, were streaking across the sky. It felt to me not so much as a transformation of the sky as a revelation through the sky: there is a joy to things deeper than pain, more enduring than pain, and sometimes we can break through the pain to touch it. Or perhaps it breaks through the pain to touch us. There is a beauty to be trusted, deep in the heart of things. And underneath are the everlasting arms.
change the ground
Co-Participant: Howard Moody
Media: Acrylic on canvas, earth, cement on board
Dimensions: 60H x 40W in
question authority
Co-Participant: Peter Selz
Media: Acrylic on canvas, cement, shells, herbs
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in
Human Rights
Co-Participant: Paula Lumbard
Media: Cement on canvas, earth, mustard seed, grass
Dimensions: 60H x 30W in
Date: 1990
Paula Lumbard’s reflection upon the completed painting:
Human rights is the premiere issue of our time. Through keeping human rights as a first order of consciousness world peace, ending the oppression of others, feeding the hungry, and curing disease become the foremost tasks for all. I feel honored to participate with Dean Dresser in this expansive endeavor.
spirit
Co-Participant: Dr. Jurgen Moltmann
Media: Acrylic on canvas, cement, earth, seeds
Dimensions: 60H x 72W in