POSSESSION: All that is sacred in contemporary art

The Soul of a Poet: RIP Gil Scott-Heron

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:48:00 +0000

This is a very beautiful interview with the late Gil Scott-Heron who passed away on May 27th, 2011. His work touched me deeply as a young writer and I had the chance of seeing him later on in his career, just over a decade ago in Toronto. His work spans an important era, one which many of us are only able to read about to fully relate and understand the type of courage and character it took to write as one who is truly socially-engaged. I am sure he's being welcomed with joy by the ancestors — and to my fellow writers, he has now become an ancestor of ours. It goes without saying that being on the receiving end of the richness of his work has been an amazing gift and pleasure in my lifetime.

Video produced by and copyright of Jamie Byng.

Originally published on the Guardian's Web site May 28th, 2011.

The Artists of Grand Rue, After the Quake

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:12:00 +0000

Problems viewing on this site? Then please watch it here.

This video was shot by Georgia Popplewell shortly after the earthquake of 2009 in the Port-au-Prince neighbourhood of Grand Rue, which is where Ghetto Biennale takes place. Grand Rue is considered the Greenwich Village of Port-au-Prince and the area is home to artists of all types. The quake happened shortly after the 1st Ghetto Biennale and this short shows how it has impacted this creative community. This interview is with Belle Williams, the spokesperson for Ti Moun Rezistans (Children of Resistance), an arts program for children in the Grand Rue district of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

View works by the children of Ti Moun Rezistans.

Pan Afrikan Performing Arts Institute

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:33:00 +0000

Here is a great short doc on Papai — performer d'bi.young's exciting new arts organization, located in South Africa. Visit both the Papa Institute and d'bi.young's Web sites. Her work, as always, is truly remarkable.

Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:55:00 +0000

It's here, and it's spectacular! Check out and purchase the premiere issue of Hoodoo & Conjure Quarterly or visit their Web site. The publication is co-founded and published by Voodoo doll artist and practitioner Denise Alvarado.

Call for Submissions: 2nd Ghetto Biennale 2011

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:44:00 +0000

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
November - December, 2011
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 25 April 2011, midnight
Curators: André Eugene, Celeur Jean Herard, Leah Gordon

The Grand Rue Sculptors are a community of artists living in a downtown popular neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In December 2009, the Sculptors of Grand Rue hosted the 1st Ghetto Biennale 2009. Over 40 artists, filmmakers, academics, photographers, musicians, architects and writers came to the Grand Rue area of Port-Au-Prince to make or witness work that was shown or happened in the neighbourhood.

The 2nd Ghetto Biennale 2011 will take place from the end of November until the middle of December 2011. All works must be made and exhibited in Haiti. Artists will be invited to pass one to three weeks in Haiti before presenting their work in Port-au-Prince neighbourhood communities: audiences of local people, arts collectives and arts organizations.

We will be privileging applications from artists that attended the inaugural event as we wish to encourage and strengthen the connections, collaborations and relationships that were established during the 1st Ghetto Biennale 2009. But there will be also be at least 20 new artists accepted too.

How to Apply

Please keep in mind that we are looking for works that will be created and produced during the three week period in Port au Prince, Haiti. We are not looking for work that is already finished. Please check the 1st Ghetto Biennale archives to get a feel for the previous projects.

Proposal application deadline:
Midnight — Monday April 25th, 2011

Results:
Announced by mid-June. The primary criteria will be based on practical issues of the viability of the production in the Grand Rue locality.

Applicants must provide the following in pdf:

A written synopsis of their project proposal covering methodology, conceptual background and the production and exhibition strategy for the proposed new work
Synopsis must be submitted on two sides of A4, including illustrations
A one-page CV

If you are unable to create a pdf and then we will be happy to accept a Word document. However, we will not accept any proposal longer than two sides and neither will we accept Web site links as a proposal component.

There is no funding for this event and you will be expected to cover the cost of your flight, accommodation and materials. We will supply a reading list, there is a film about the Grand Rue sculptors on-line and we will be more than happy to help (via email) with any research and information needed, both before your application and leading up to the event.

Advice can be given about the practicalities for the production of specific projects and budgeting for the trip. Translators will be on site in Haiti throughout the production period, but if your work involves intensive interviews we will advise you to budget for your own translator. Artists should be aware that Haiti has only a 50% literacy rate and text-heavy projects could be problematic for the local audience.

We can help organize all hotel bookings, airport pick-ups and internal transport. All the visiting artists will be staying at the Oloffson Hotel.

Please e-mail questions, enquiries and submissions to:
Leah Gordon
leahgordon@aol.com

Find more information about Atis-Rezistans

No. 1 Trance

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Really, I should be in bed, but a friend Facebooked this ridiculously hot Congolese group called Konono No. 1 and it's in keeping with my Malidoma Patrice Somé vibe. I'm researching them on-line presently, as I know so little about them, but good goddess, if they come to Toronto sometime, I'll be upfront and glued next to the speaker. Loving this collaboration with fellow Congolese rapper Baloji, who, by the way, has the sickest video on the front page of his own Web site. Combined, both talents leave me speechless:

Malidoma Patrice Somé: Part I

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:05:00 +0000

Malidoma Patrice Somé

This post is one of two interviews with Malidoma Patrice Somé I will be reposting on POSSESSION. "Gays: Guardians of the Gates," is what I think many of you will find to be quite satisfactory and eloquent reading.

Quite recently, I have discovered some wonderful books by the West African writer and diviner Malidoma Patrice Somé. And I think I'm in love, reverentially speaking. I've been juggling between his books The Healing Wisdom of Africa and the ever short and sweet Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community, of which I've become most fond. Those who are seeking (especially those of the African descent) may, perhaps, feel like they have found a mentor and kindred spirit through his writing.

Interestingly, as all things happening in synchronicity, I found out in short order that Malidoma will be in Toronto later next month. And I'm looking forward to it. Greatly.

He writes a lot about the importance of ancestralization, the power infused in grief and ritual, and the need for those in the Diaspora to embrace our spiritual traditions. And it's quite moving, beautiful and real:

"It follows then that primitive cultures normally deal with the physical world at the last stage. What goes wrong in the visible world is only the tip of the iceberg. So to correct a dysfunctional state of affairs effectively, one must first locate its hidden area, its symbolic dimension, work with it first, and then assist in the restoration of the physical (visible) extension of it. Visible wrongs have their roots in the world of the spirit. To deal only with their visibility is like trimming the leaves of a weed when you mean to uproot it. Ritual is the mechanism that uproots these dysfunctions. It offers a realm in which the unseen part of the dysfunction is worked on in ways that affect the unseen." (from Ritual: Power, Healing, and Community)

The following interview is the copyright of Bert H. Hoff and was originally published in the September 1993 of M.E.N. magazine and is being reposted from the MenWeb.org Web site. I will say that those who are overly academically inclined may be a bit miffed at some of Malidoma's wording in this repost, but truthfully, if you re-read certain sections, you'll see the place that he's coming from is definitely one of respect for LGBT communities. After coming across it just this week, I knew I just had to share. Enjoy!

— Ed.

Gays: Guardians of the Gates
interview with Malidoma Patrice Somé by Bert H. Hoff

PHOTOGRAPHER: Sarah Stefana Smith, from The Portrait Project:
The Many Faces of LGBTQI People of African Descent, 2009

Malidoma Somé recognizes that he learned more through his initiation as a Dagara tribesman than from his PhDs from the Sorbonne and Brandeis University. His name means "be friendly to strangers," and he is charged by his elders of the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso (east of Nigeria and north of Ghana) with bringing the wisdom of his tribe to the West. His book Ritual: Power, Healing and Community is highly praised by Michael Meade, Robert Bly and Robert Moore....

During one of the Conflict Hours at the Mendocino Men’s Conference, Malidoma spoke eloquently on indigenous people’s views of gay men. He kindly agreed to elaborate on his views as he sat with me among the redwoods of Mendocino.

Bert: At Conflict Hour you told us that your culture honors gays as having a higher vibrational level that enabled them to be guardians of the gateways to the spirit world. You suggested that our Western view limits itself by focusing only on their sexual role. Can you elaborate for our readers?

Malidoma: I don’t know how to put it in terms that are clear enough for an audience that, I think needs as much understanding of this gender issue as people in this country do. But at least among the Dagara people, gender has very little to do with anatomy. It is purely energetic. In that context, a male who is physically male can vibrate female energy, and vice versa. That is where the real gender is. Anatomic differences are simply there to determine who contributes what for the continuity of the tribe. It does not mean, necessarily, that there is a kind of line that divides people on that basis. And this is something that also touches on what has become known here as the "gay" or "homosexual" issue. Again, in the culture that I come from, this is not the issue. These people are looked on, essentially, as people. The whole notion of "gay" does not exist in the indigenous world. That does not mean that there are not people there who feel the way that certain people feel in this culture, that has led to them being referred to as "gay."

The reason why I’m saying there are no such people is because the gay person is very well integrated into the community, with the functions that delete this whole sexual differentiation of him or her. The gay person is looked at primarily as a "gatekeeper." The Earth is looked at, from my tribal perspective, as a very, very delicate machine or consciousness, with high vibrational points, which certain people must be guardians of in order for the tribe to keep its continuity with the gods and with the spirits that dwell there. Spirits of this world and spirits of the other worlds. Any person who is at this link between this world and the other world experiences a state of vibrational consciousness which is far higher, and far different, from the one that a normal person would experience. This is what makes a gay person gay. This kind of function is not one that society votes for certain people to fulfill. It is one that people are said to decide on prior to being born. You decide that you will be a gatekeeper before you are born. And it is that decision that provides you with the equipment (Malidoma gestures by circling waist area with hands) that you bring into this world. So when you arrive here you begin to vibrate in a way that Elders can detect as meaning that you are connected with a gateway somewhere. Then they watch you grow, and they watch you act and react, and sooner or later they will follow you to the gateway that you are connected with.

ARTIST: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Fallen Angel

Now, gay people have children. Because they’re fertile, just like normal people. How I got to know that they were gay was because on arriving in this country and seeing the serious issues surrounding gay people, I began to wonder it does not exist in my own country. When I asked one of them, who had taken me to the threshold of the Otherworld, whether he feels sexual attraction towards another man, he jumped back and said, "How do you know that?!" He said, "This is our business as gatekeepers." And, yet he had a wife and children — no problem, you see.

So to then limit gay people to simple sexual orientation is really the worst harm that can be done to a person. That all he or she is is a sexual person. And, personally, because of the fact that my knowledge of indigenous medicine, ritual, comes from gatekeepers, it’s hard for me to take this position that gay people are the negative breed of a society. No! In a society that is profoundly dysfunctional, what happens is that peoples’ life purposes are taken away, and what is left is this kind of sexual orientation which, in turn, is disturbing to the very society that created it.

I think this is again victimization by a Christian establishment that is looking at a gay person as a disempowered person, a person who has lost his job from birth onward, and now society just wants to fire him out of life. This is not justice. It’s not justice. It is a terrible harm done to an energy that could save the world, that could save us. If, today, we are suffering from a gradual ecological waste, this is simply because the gatekeepers have been fired from their job. They have been fired! They have nothing to do! And because they have been fired, we accuse them for not doing anything. This is not fair!

Let us look at the earth differently, and we will find out gradually that these people that are bothering us today are going to start taking their posts. They know what their job is. You just have to get near them, to feel that they don’t vibrate the same way. They are not of this world. They come from the Otherworld, and they were sent here to keep the gates open to the Otherworld, because if the gates are shut, this is when the earth, Mother Earth, will shake — because it has no more reason to be alive, it will shake itself, and we will be in deep trouble.

Bert: Christianity has separated spirit from body and spirit from Earth. And earlier you talked to us about Christianity suppressing your culture. So there’s a suggestion here that suppression of homosexuality would be the way for the Christians to shut down the gateways, shut down the spirit, and shut down our connection with the Earth.

ARTIST: Félix González-Torres, With the Saints

Malidoma: Yes! That’s right! Christianity stresses postponing living on earth, as of we are only here to pack up our baggage and prepare for a life somewhere else "out there." Jesus Christ is right here, man! And of course anyone else who knows more, who knows better, will be suppressed.

And you start with the gatekeepers. You take the gatekeeper and you confuse his mind. You threaten him and you throw him in the middle of nowhere. Then nobody knows where the gate is. As soon as you lose the whereabouts of the gate, then you have a culture going downhill. What keeps a village together is a handful of "gays and lesbians," as they call them in the modern world. In my village, lesbians are called witches, and gay men are known as the gatekeepers. These are the two only known secret societies. These are the only groups that will get together as a separate group and go out into the woods secretly to do whatever they do. And if they find you during their yearly symposium, they have the right to kill you.

Unless they go out on their yearly symposium, the village cannot be granted another year of life. They have to go out to do what they do, in order for the village to feel safe enough to live the way it has lived before. This is why, to me, we’re playing with our lives.

Bert: So our culture may not be granted another year of life.

Malidoma: That’s right! Every year it feels like the number of years that this culture is entitled to live is getting smaller. So God only knows how close to the chasm this culture is. This constantly reiterated discomfort and hatred for the gay person is again another indication that every year we might as well be prepared for the apocalyptic moment when the stars start to fall to the earth.

You see, unless there is somebody who constantly monitors the mechanism that opens the door from this world to the Otherworld, what happens is that something can happen to one of the doors and it closes up. When all the doors are closed, this earth runs out of its own orbit and the solar system collapses into itself. And because this system is linked to other systems, they too start to fall into a whirlpool. And the cataclysm would be amazing!

PHOTOGRAPHER: William Bloomhuff, Dancing Dogon Women

Ask the Dogon, they will tell you that. The Dogon. They’re a tribe that understands this so well, it’s amazing, mind-boggling. And it is a tribe that knows astrology like no other tribe that I have encountered. And the great astrologers of the Dogon are gay. They are gay. There is a dull planet that, in its orbit, is directly above the Dogon village every 58 years. Who knows that, but the gay people.

I mean, I’m not just trying to make gay people look fine. This is the truth, man! I’m trying to save my ass!

Why is it that, everywhere else in the world, gay people are a blessing, and in the modern world they are a curse? It is self-evident. The modern world was built by Christianity. They have taken the gods out of the earth sent them to heaven, wherever that is. And everyone who aspires to the gods must then negotiate with Christianity, so that the real priests and priestesses are out of a job. This is the worst thing that can happen to a culture that calls itself modern.

Bert: That theme came up earlier with you and Martín, the Mayan shaman here, that if a modern society wants to shut down another culture they will go out and kill the keepers of the ritual.

Malidoma: Oh, yes! Because they know that this is where the life-pulse of the culture is. This is where the engine room of the tribe is. So if you go and bomb that place, then the whole mechanism shuts down. That’s pretty much what’s at work in the third world, and what has happened here with the Native American culture. And the thing about it is that humans are going to be begetting gatekeepers, no matter what. This is the chance that we’ve got. So maybe that means that sooner or later we’re going to wake up to the horror of our own errors, and we’re going to reconsecrate our chosen people so that they can do their priestly work as they should. Otherwise, I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand. My position about it is not so much that gays be just forgiven. That’s just tokenism. But that they serve as an example of the wrong, or the illness, that modernity has brought to us, and that we use that to begin working at healing ourselves and our society from the bottom up. That way, by the time we reach a certain level, all the gatekeepers are going to find their positions again. We cannot tell them where the gates are. They know. If we start to heal ourselves, they will remember. It will kick in. But as long as we continue in arrogance, in egotism, in God-knows-what form of violence on ourselves, no, there’s that veil of confusion that’s going to continue to prevail, and as a result it’s going to prevent great things from happening. That’s all I can say about that.

For more information about Malidoma Patrice Somé, please visit his Web site: Malidoma.com

Malidoma will be giving a couple presentations in Toronto:

Public Talk: "Ritual & Community"
Friday, October 29th, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Institute of Traditional Medicine
553 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor

He will also be leading "Healing Relationships with Ancestors & Grief"

Saturday and Sunday, October 30th & 31st, 2010

Receive more info by contacting the Institute of Traditional Medicine:
info@instituteoftraditionalmedicine.com

A Wondrous Film by Powys Dewhurst

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 03:06:00 +0000

DIRECTOR: Powys Dewhurst

I met director Powys Dewhurst back in 2007 at the Leda Serene Films office and was happy in the moment to meet a fellow Dominican. My nationalistic shallowness aside, it took about a year later, after seeing his film Where Do White People Go When the Long Weekend Comes? The Wondrous Journey of Delroy Kincaid at the CaribbeanTales Film Festival, for me to realize that he is an exceptionally gifted filmmaker and storyteller.

I love great tales told through a child's eye, and his short has such a beautiful and compelling narrative that's told with a sensitivity, which, until then, I'd never seen so lovingly expressed by a man — he exposed his heart. And it still gives me wonderful warm chills up my spine when I think about it. Thankfully, Rany Ly put together The Making of Where Do White People Go When the Long Weekend Comes? — a great backgrounder about Powys' film. And it's just as nice:

VIDEO: The Making of "Where Do White People Go When the Long Weekend Comes?
The Wondrous Journey of Delroy Kincaid," by Rany Ly

The Magnificent Kukuli Velarde

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:23:00 +0000

I was first introduced to this incredible Peruvian-born artist through the lovely folks (and fab Twitter friends) at Heavy Bubble over a year ago and thought that it would be nice to share. What's more incredible? Just look at the rest of Kukuli Velarde's art on her Web site. It's fantastic! But check out this interview with her first and tell me she's not dope:

Artist: Kukuli Velarde (Problems viewing? Watch directly on YouTube)

Aleks' Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:32:00 +0000

ARTIST: Aleks Bartosik, her existence only failed to honour her own "myth."

An Interview with Aleks Bartosik

I fell in love with Aleks Bartosik's work long before I met her. To see her work on-line doesn't begin to bring to life her wonderfully oversized art of women, lush in colour, full of mystery, passion, and life. The pieces featured here don't touch the scope of her talent, which branches out into live painting, illustration, film and performance. And by far, she's one of Toronto's busiest multimedia artists (and lovely woman about town in every sense). Locals are doubly encouraged to check out her blog to keep abrest of her upcoming exhibitions taking place in the city and beyond.

KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE: Your larger canvas and paper artworks have always striked me as being caught somewhere between the erotic and ethereal. They have such a beautiful sensation-based feel, almost dreamlike and sometimes fantastical. They're like a lovely marriage between the Eliza Griffiths and Shary Boyle approach to painting. Like these two mentioned artists, I'm assuming that many of your subjects in these pieces are based on yourself since, at times, they definitely look a lot like you and come across to me as various degrees of self-portraits. Assuming that I am reading your work correctly, and that to some extent self-portraiture does come into the mix, what are the themes of self-exploration that drive these works?

ALEKS BARTOSIK: It is true that some of the females portrayed in my work are self-portraits (sometimes quite literally), especially in my older work (for example, faces series [2004-2008] are all self-portraits). Recently, however, I use myself as a reference when drawing and painting the female body for proportions when adjusting my morphing figures into the animals/beasts that you see. I think that the "self-portraiture" comes into play more on a personal level of exploring my inner thoughts, emotions and opinions, rather than the literal physical appearance. I mix real and fantastical thoughts about relationships that I observe (or take part in) directly and indirectly between beings and themselves. I try to portray something the viewer may relate to (emotionally perhaps) in the sometimes very absurd or surreal situations and bodies I present, or throw at, the viewer in it's massive scale.

Aleks Bartosik, untitled

KMA: Animals appear often in your art, with horses being dominant, especially as Kentaurides (female centaurs). Often, the female body melds seamlessly with different animal parts, or invariably there is a connection of certain attributes. Female centaurs, for instance, mythologically represent untamed nature and speed. In many cases there is something playful, yet there is also an aspect of them that remind me of what one may envision in dreams. I'm curious as to what draws you to collapse these two forms together: woman and animal. And, in the case of horses, what is it about this animal that inspires you in particular?

AB: A few years back I started developing work that, in my opinion, tries to capture the world of the imaginary. In particular, I wanted to develop the idea of imaginary friends for the adult. The more I explored this idea of imaginary friends for adults the more the beings in my work became wild, untamed — animalistic! Finally, I started literally combining animal parts with human parts and creating creatures such as centaurs and mermaids, for example.

Aleks Bartosik, horse loves when you ride with her (detail)

The horse was an animal that, at the time, captured my interest for no particular reason but the sole link to fairytales and mythology. The horse as the centaur, the unicorn — the horse that the knight rode to save a princess... until the "princess" herself became the centaur, the knight! I decided to adapt the horse into my body of work and make it the "imaginary friend" for my adult female character (ultimately played by me) in my performace, photography, and film work. The horse is a link to the playful world, if you dare to play along.

KMA: I love the idea that you're creating imaginary friends for adults — for these women — in your work. I've always been drawn especially to your pieces where there are loose and faint lines of secondary bodies. For me, they've always felt very other-worldy, like spirit guides or the residual presence of an important supporting figure in the lives of your subjects. What can be said about women stepping out of the box of these fairytales into the wild imaginary of your narratives? What would you love others to consider about the lost imaginations we embraced as children?

Aleks Bartosik, incomplete conversation

AB: I adapt some ideas from what I see around me by observing relationships between lovers, siblings, friends, mothers and fathers and their children, where either I am directly or indirectly involved. People and their unique obsessions, loves and hates towards things that surround them fascinate me. I look and I recreate my own narratives through my paintings and drawings. When I recreate, my work becomes imaginary with, what I hope to achieve, a reminder to the real that is in our lives. I want to see if the viewer is able to let go into the imaginary, to make his/her own narratives and, perhaps, enter into their childhood memories and stories, but remain in the "real" world.

The images that I create are not the only tools to creating my narratives, I try to achieve a narrative of the materials I use and the process of painting and drawing. The left traces, mistakes, and under-drawings tell the story of the painting/drawing.

KMA: You do many live murals that incorporate performance. Tell us a bit about one of these more recent projects.

AB: These projects are the extensions of the "imaginary friend for an adult" idea. I wanted this imaginary Horse-Head Being to literally come to life during my drawing events. The Horse-Heads are rooted in a larger and deeper narrative, but I purposefully wish them to appear playful and childlike. With the performances, I investigate one's ability and willingness to imagine, pretend and suspend disbelief to try and tap into our inner child. I am interested in our repressed fears and the sense of wonder engendered through curiousity and dream.

KMA: Seeing that your paintings can be read as captured segments of stories, your influences must be vast. Which artists (including, writers and filmmakers) have had a great impact on your work and why?

AB: Oh my God! There are so many influences in my life! There are many because from some I take just a little bit.

Aleks Bartosik, ice maiden (work in progress, from the venus in furs series)

First and foremost influence/inspiration are people. As far as artists or writers go that have inspired or had an impact on the way I work or see things are too many to list. I am often inspired by my surrounding contemporaries actually. But here is a short list of a few: Francisco Goya, Marlene Dumas, Ida Applebroog, Leon Golub, Otto Dix, Henry Darger, Paula Rego, William Kentridge, Heinrich Kley, Nancy Spero, Eric Stanton and Kiki Smith.

Also, I enjoy the films and writing of Andrei Tarkovsky. Edward Gorey’s poetry and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch stories inspire me. These are just a few names, but the reason these other artists have an impact on me is mostly the way they use their medium to do what they do. I am curious to see how, perhaps similar, ideas can be expressed by a different creator.

KMA: What projects or series are you working on presently and when will they be on exhibition?

AB: I don’t usually have one particular series that I work on as I usually embark on many ideas and projects at the same time. I like doing that, it keeps my brain busy! But I will tell you about one that I have been working on since 2007 (slowly). I have actually displayed parts of it in a couple of shows, like Spunky Rooms, with Robin Tewes, which was on view at Headbones Gallery a few months back.

Aleks Bartosik, venus in furs

I am creating a series of paintings that show imaginary individuals who decided to owe themselves to others (or things) by the choice of their heart. I am creating a narrative that is very loosely (VERY LOOSELY!) based on a novel written by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch in 1870, titled Venus in Furs. The novel draws themes and character inspiration heavily from the author’s own life by focusing on the outrageous nature of a love affair between two people. Venus in Furs is a passionate and powerful portrayal of one man's struggle to enlighten and instruct himself and his world in the realm of desire through themes of masochism and fantasy.

I adapt some of Sacher-Masoch's thoughts and recreate my own narrative through my paintings. Just as in his novel, I seek out women that I feel are strong individuals in their own right. I am painting from real models, women who I know, but only draw certain characteristics from them that I see/admire/or think of when I see them. The paintings are not meant to be actual portraits of certain individuals, nor do I try to capture the likeness to the sitters. The body of work is meant to be a process where I eventually create a narrative between each portrait and the technique used within them.

My creation techniques purposefully mimic that of the feelings of masochism and obsession, as my marks and colours are simultaneously aggressive and very delicate. In some cases, my marks are absent and in other parts very apparent. I am developing a body of work that not only tells a story of the sitters I choose, but also the story of the medium (of painting and drawing) as I leave my "mistakes" and under-drawings within each canvas. I have no plans as to when or where I will show this body of work, but I will let you know!

Please visit Aleks Bartosik's Web site at AleksBartosik.com

All images are copyright of the artist and have been published with her permission.

Letter to Haiti

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:39:00 +0000

by M. NourbeSe Philip

Photographer: Leah Gordon

Haiti, I weep for you. I hide my tears because I’m on a flight from Kelowna, British Columbia, to Toronto, and who knows, with all the heightened security I fear they may think something’s amiss. That I’m weeping as a prelude to joining my ancestors. So paranoid have we become. But I weep for you, Haiti, for your people, for the shit — the unmitigated shit — that life seems to throw your way. Again and again. And, to adapt the words of one of your warrior daughters, Maya Angelou, “still you rise,” to greet another green, tropic day that holds hope ransom, as you tear your people limb by painful limb from a hell that eschews fire and opts instead for the hardface, stoneface indifference of concrete that, Medusa like, seems to have frozen all of your magnificent history into slabs of cement. Now fragmented they litter your landscape as if some giant, angry at us mortals, had decided to stamp on your already precarious country. There was a time when our Caribbean houses kept faith with wood, whether one-room homes — some call them chattel houses — or larger, more graceful estate houses. Time was when the thatched Ajoupa bequeathed us by Taino, Arawak and Carib would have swayed to the groans of the earth as she eased her suffering, opening herself along her wounded fault lines to the ever blue skies, the constant love of the sun, to release all her pent up grief for us, birthing we don’t yet know what. Time was when hands steeped in skills of building homes brought from a homeland a slap, kick and a howl away, across a roiling ocean, would have gently patted mud over wattle, weaving branches to create cool interiors, shaping shelters from the earth that would not, could not, betray the safety in home to crush, obliterate, to fall down around your ears. Like the third little pig in the nursery rhyme, Haiti, you built your home of brick — it was supposed to protect you.

Toussaint L'Overture

Each and every time I hear or read the words that describe you as being a poor nation, the poorest of the poorest — I weep.

Poor you most certainly are in all things material, but your riches are immeasurable, woven through your history, your culture and your people.

Yours was the first and only successful slave revolt in the Western world and resulted in the second independent nation after the United States in the so-called New World. In taking the name the Taino had given the “Land of Mountains,” Ayiti, you returned the country to its First Nations roots. How many know that the USA embargoed you for sixty years because you fired a shot across the bow of history by liberating your people under the brilliant leadership of Toussaint L’Overture? How many know that you became a pariah in the world for taking a moral stance in favour of justice and freedom and against racial exploitation and oppression? Then, you were at another epicentre, along one of the many fault lines of history, the reverberations of which seismic, political shift would be felt around the world. Indeed, are still being felt, I would argue. No one rushed to help you then, Haiti. Instead, what we had were France, Spain, Holland, Britain and the United States (albeit secretly) — shall we call them the coalition of the ready, willing and able, or simply the usual suspects? — preparing to invade you to re-impose the yoke of slavery. How many know that your liberation determined the eventual downfall of Napoleon? So decimated were Napoleon’s troops under his brother-in-law, General Leclerc, by fighting in Haiti and by yellow fever, they could not provide the necessary support for Napoleon’s subsequent campaigns in Europe — against Spain, Russia and Prussia to be exact. In November 1803, France, under Napoleon, capitulated. In January 1804, General Jean Jacques Dessalines declared you an independent nation. How many know that France, that bastion of revolution and freedom, by the Ordinance of 1825 exacted the sum of 150 million francs as compensation from you for loss of “property” — read: formerly enslaved Africans? How many know or even care to know that you did, indeed, pay your extortioner through a series of loans that bankrupted you? The equivalent of that sum is $21 billion in today’s money. And how many know that the USA invaded you in 1915 and occupied you until 1934? Hearing that the US military now controls the airport makes me shudder. Makes me want to hold my head and bawl.

Despite the historical and contemporary demonisation of Vaudon, you have enshrined the religion of your ancestors in your constitution, making it an official religion alongside Christianity.

Writer: Kamau Brathwaite

Only South Africa among a continent of African nations has dared to do this — most flee this reminder of who they are. No other Caribbean island nation has followed suit. Most of all, Haiti, you are rich in your people — their dignity, their love of homeland and willingness to struggle for freedom. What more fitting example of this is the recognition of the language of the people, Haitian Creole, as an official language? With the exception of the three formerly Dutch colonies, Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, no other Caribbean island nation has officially recognised the language of the people, for the people and by the people — the vernacular, the demotic — Kamau Brathwaite’s nation language — as worthy of recognition. Ah, but most of all, Haiti, I weep for the “dream deferred” that Langston Hughes so eloquently wrote about. What has happened to the many deferred dreams of your people? Where have they gone? How many know that at the start of your fledgling nation in 1804, democratic principles were central to your constitution? First, you abolished slavery, then moved to enshrine one of the most frighteningly revolutionary and emancipatory ideals in your constitution — racial equality — even granting citizenship to Polish soldiers who had fought alongside Haitians against the French. In 1804 that would have been the equivalent of an earthquake measuring at least 8 on a Richter scale of oppression. You were at the heart of the awakening of modernity — albeit a deferred modernity. More than anything else, you presented, in the words of the Canadian poet, Jordan Scott, a profound “threat to cohesion.” The cohesion of imperial power founded on brute racism.

Writer: CLR James

I weep for you, Haiti, and for I ‘n’ I, because when I bear virtual witness to your despair and your suffering, when I see the mountains of rubble and concrete, the broken roads, the tangle of electrical wires, and hear the voices droning on and on about the lack of infrastructure, I think of my own internal infrastructure — spiritual, psychic, intellectual and political — and realize that your history has played no small part in its structure and design. I recognize you writ large through CLR James’ The Black Jacobins that I first read as a young Caribbean woman trying to find her place in a world and a history that had hardly begun to be told. Your history, your struggle, your survival, epitomised through the successful Haitian revolution, as told by James, became a part of my own struggle to understand my place and the place of my people in this world — on all those tiny pieces of coral or volcanic rock scattered in the ever blue Caribbean Sea. Through The Black Jacobins we, each and every one of us who read that work, grew in stature internally as Caribbean people, children of the volcano all, to quote the brilliant Martniquan poet and founder of negritude, Aimé Césaire; became larger psychically, and more intellectually secure in our role as agents of change. In our own history.

The Haitian revolution became woven into our psychic and political DNA, a scaffolding to support our personal structures of personhood; an aide memoire to our silenced history, a map for our journey to greater self-awareness.

Writer: Ntozake Shange

Toussaint’s name lived in our minds and on our tongues as young Caribbean thinkers, the first generation to have access to widespread, tertiary level education. The coloniser’s language may separate us, but only superficially, for CLR James who brought your struggle home to us and helped us to understand ourselves through the lens of history, is as much a son of yours as Boukman, Toussaint, Dessalines or Christophe. Indeed, your daughters and sons know no borders. For African-American poet and writer, Ntozake Shange, “TOUSSAINT waz a blkman...who refused to be a slave...TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE waz the beginnin uv reality” for her. A dazzling, polyvocal, linguistically innovative tour de force, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, although located in the US, grounded itself in a historical reality that began with Toussaint. Samuel Huntington (him of The Clash of Civilizations) had the impertinence to describe you as “the neighbour nobody wants” and as being “truly a kinless country,” and in so doing reveals how little ignorance respects knowledge. Little does he know how far, how wide and how deep your kin are spread.

I gaze at a map of Port au Prince in a newspaper identifying high profile sites of destruction: it is as if someone decided you had to start again, and wiped the slate clean: the Ministry of Justice — gone; the Presidential Palace — gone; administrative offices — gone; the penetentiary — gone; the hospitals — gone; churches — gone; the cathedral — gone. Hundreds of thousands of people — gone. All gone — just like that. In the clichéd wink of an eye — God’s perhaps? Or the devil’s snap of fingers. Leaving nothing but bright mornings filled with mourning, despair, grief and pictures of little Black girls with locks made blonde by concrete dust, who look out at the world through glasses, bearing the weight of history and a building on their little legs. Oh God, oh God, why hast thou forsaken us? This is the language — the language of the Bible — that bursts forth, as if the apocalyptic nature of the disaster itself demands a language of Biblical proportions. Because flesh hurts, and love and grief know no bounds when your loves are entombed before your very eyes, sometimes leaving no one to mourn, no one to cry out, Why? Why? Why? And, worse than that, no one to answer why.

The Middle Passage

There was a time when for five hundred years the world, with very few exceptions, was indifferent to the suffering of African peoples. They entered the maw of a history drenched in brutality, as history most often is, through the doorway of the slave ship and, by way of what we so euphemistically call the Middle Passage, were washed up on these Caribbean islands like so much flotsam and jetsam the Atlantic was rejecting. To enter the machine of the plantation. Who shed a tear, beyond those left in Africa, for those entombed in slave ships? Who shed a tear for those whose bones litter the sands below the Atlantic? Who shed a tear for the living death of the slave plantation? As recently as 2005 we were witness to the indifference that greets the suffering of Black folk in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. By their own government. Under George Bush.

This time seems different: the world is responding, although many of those responding have been complicit in beggaring you.

Photographer: Leah Gordon, Chaloska

Always an agricultural nation, you once grew your own rice, then cheap subsidised rice from the USA flooded the nation and your self-sufficiency in rice was lost, so that during the 2008 food crisis (which continues), when the price and availability of staple foods like rice shot up, you were particularly vulnerable. According to Peter Hallward, writing in the Guardian in January 2010, during its occupation of your territory the US “violently and deliberately” resisted “every serious political attempt to allow Haiti’s people to move (in the words of Jean Bertrand Aristide) ‘from absolute misery to a dignified poverty’.” And make no mistake about it, had it not been for the support of the Soviet Union, Cuba would have been beggared in the same way by the embargo the US imposed after the Cuban revolution.

The world has found you now, Haiti, but where was it when France was extorting blood money from you, ably assisted by the US who arranged loans to help you repay France — loans designed to break you economically? Where was it? The world. It is against the principles of international law that a victorious country should pay a country it defeated for its freedom, yet the nations of the world have been silent on this travesty. One of the claims Aristide made during his tenure was for reparations from France for these immoral and illegal payments. Where was the support for these claims from the world? Where was the world when the US occupied you? Busily fighting to save Europe from the calamity that Hitler portended, shoring up the principles of freedom in resounding Churchillian phrases, where the fuck was the world? As the flag bearer of democracy crushed a small but proud island nation, and today, even today, as hungry, frantic Haitians take to the seas in desperation, seeking refuge anywhere, even in water as their ancestors did, even today, the US Coast Guard turns them back. Where was the world when the US rounded up your boat people to return them, unlike the Cubans, to their home country? Where was the world, Haiti? And will it still love you when you occupy your rightful place? For occupy it you will. Our very survival — the survival of every one of your children depends on it.

Today I saw a little boy birthed from a concrete womb a mere letter away from a living tomb, his rescuers pulling him from the rubble as if he were being born again — for the second time in his so very short life. They snatch his frail-limbed body, whitened with concrete dust and, cradling him in their arms, run with him. And I think, so it was when you defied the long, the very long historical odds against you, and out of the living tomb of slavery created a womb to birth yourself. Blood and all.

Photographer: Leah Gordon, Lancers du Cord

Today, they say it’s your culture that prevents you from moving forward — that vaudon creates a fatalism that is out of step with the ideals of progress endemic to the West. And I wonder why that fatalism didn’t keep you wedded to a slave culture.

But what good is history when your child done dead and gone? Or your mother bury under concrete, or your daddy, grandmère or grandpère nowhere? You cyant eat revolution, you cyant drink freedom. And, as the saying goes, a hungry man is an angry man. It is not surprising, but still I am surprised at the rapidity with which the trope of violence has raised its head: not even a week has gone by before the Toronto Star has a front page picture of a naked, bound man being beaten. The following day the headline screams about violence marring the relief efforts. The following day still a front page picture appears of a knife-wielding man appearing to attack someone for food. It’s the stereotype with which the media and those that “run tings” have clothed us. Beggars or criminals. Or sometimes both, as the Star makes out. Even as they purport to help, they construct prisons of stereotypes for us. How quickly the world has forgotten the unspeakable violence that slavery meted out on African peoples for at least five hundred years. Indeed, Leclerc wrote of his intent to “wage a war of extermination” to reintroduce slavery in your barely formed nation. You have never been forgiven for successfully resisting his violent attempt to subjugate you. To decontextualize the violence in Haiti, as the Star has done in those three issues, under the guise of needing to show Canadians the “true horror of this disaster” appears to be nothing more than a crass and racially exploitative attempt to sell more newspapers.

Papa Doc

I will not romanticize your history; cannot pretend that the dreams and hopes of that seminal revolution have not been curdled over the years. Toussaint may have abolished slavery, reorganised the administrative and justice systems, built roads, schools and bridges, but Papa Doc and the Ton Ton Macoutes did exist. So did his son, Baby Doc.

Class and race divisions in Haiti are alive and pernicious, but when I hear Bill Clinton talk about the need for Haiti to shake off her history, I wonder what history he is referring to. The history of Toussaint, or the history of Papa Doc, or both?

And when I hear of George Bush urging people to send money, not clothing, I laugh. I remember him urging his populace after 9/11 to go out and shop. And look where that got them. And I think of Obama appointing these two men and I laugh again. Because if I didn’t, I would sure be crying.

Fired in history’s unrelenting sun, we Caribbean peoples who hunger after justice, who long for peace, who have lived cheek by jowl with, and sometimes in the belly of, the beast, have always punched above our weight through history — I need only mention Castro, Fanon, James, Césaire, Wynter, Brathwaite, Walcott, Lamming and Claudia Jones, to name but a few; we grasp the import of our role in history, and no small credit for that must go to Toussaint L’Overture and all the history that swirls around him. We understand, being the subjected to them for far too long, the effects of great power machinations; they continue to reverberate in our tiny island nations as well as in the psyches of the people. The coloniser may have withdrawn but he has left his mark.

Dancer/Activist: Katherine Dunham

The African-American dancer and anthropologist Katherine Dunham, another of your daughters, had a long and deep relationship with you, even becoming an initiate of the vaudon religion. In Island Possessed she describes her relationship with the Haitian people and her involvement in the culture; she talks of buying the plantation that once belonged to selfsame General Leclerc and of her need to cleanse it of the remnants of the sordid, brutal history of empire she could feel on the property. With the help of her Haitian godmother she does, indeed, shift the negative energies she first felt there. The sheer enormity — the apocalyptic nature of this tragedy — makes me wonder if there is something larger at work here, with you, Haiti, once again being at the epicentre of some violently physical, yet spiritual, temblor, echoing that earlier one two centuries ago. Is this simply, and not so simply, the human longing and search for meaning on my part? Is it this urge to find meaning in our lives and experiences, particularly catastrophic ones, that drives the likes of Pat Robertson, a so-called man of God, to describe your plight as punishment for making a pact with the devil — a comment so egregiously lacking in compassion as to take the breath away? If nothing else he has made the choice very clear: if fighting to free one’s self puts you on the side of the devil and being on the side of God puts you in a place where, like him, you cannot express a scintilla of compassion for another’s suffering, then my sympathy will be with the devil. Always. It is early days yet, I tell myself, to attempt to find meaning in this violent catastrophe whose scale and scope often appears to exceed language, even as my mind feverishly tries to find meaning. Trying to link your history as an unblinking beacon for the Black struggle for civil and human rights, for the quest for freedom, for justice and for dignity on the part of African peoples, to this present maelstrom, as if we didn’t have maelstroms aplenty already. Indeed, in this time of acute suffering it feels premature, if not sacrilegious, to rush to meaning. So, I resist that, for the present, understanding and accepting that any meaning to be found, lies, perhaps, in the sheer absence of meaning — shit just simply happens, it seems. But I do recall another of your English speaking sons, the novelist George Lamming, who feels the heft of your history, making reference years ago in The Pleasures of Exile to the Haitian Ceremony of the Souls, which brings together the people and their ancestors — the living and the dead. What links them is a shared interest in their future — in the one case continued life, in the other eternity. There is a sense in which James’ The Black Jacobins drew us all in the Caribbean into an extended performance of the Ceremony of the Souls: we, the living descendants of the enslaved, being in active relationship with the memory of Toussaint and his supporters.

Today your dead lie all around you, and despite the lack of dignity of their final resting place, you honour them in your deep dignity, notwithstanding the pictures of the Star, and in your resilience.

And once again, through your undeserved suffering, but then suffering of the innocent is never deserved, you become a symbol for me, for us all — your children in spirit — a symbol of the will to survive in the face of apparently insuperable odds. It is what makes us human and simultaneously calls on our humanity. In that respect, we are all Haitian.

Singer: David Rudder, "Haiti"

Many years ago, David Rudder, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most beloved performers, sang a soca ballad titled “Haiti,” its refrain a simple lament: “Haiti, I’m sorry.” It begins: “Toussaint was a mighty man/ and to make matters worse he was black/ back back in the time when a blackman’s place was in the back.” The ballad recounts your history and how badly served you have been by history; how we, and in particular Caribbean peoples, have misunderstood you, turning our faces from you. It pains me that more of our island nations have not, over the years, offered refuge to your people — how many heads of state from the Anglophone Caribbean attended the two hundredth anniversary of your revolution in 2004? One, I believe. Haiti, I, too, am sorry, but I do not weep for you, for that would be to pity you; I weep with you, Haiti, with compassion, wanting to share your suffering, which lies at the root of the word compassion. Today I am Haitian and forever in your grief and your undeniable survival, because survive you will. You must. For all our sakes. All I have are my broken words. And my tears. And my more tears. My so many more tears. With you, Haiti.

Viva Toussaint!

M. NourbeSe Philip is a Canadian poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. One of this blogger's favourite writers, find further information on her by visiting her Web site: Nourbese.com.

Leah Gordon is a Haitian-based, UK-born, photographer and documentary filmmaker who greatly assisted with Haiti's 2009 Ghetto Biennale. View a wonderful excerpt of her film Atis-Rezistans: The Sculptors of Grand Rue. And please visit her Web site: LeahGordon.co.uk.

"Letter to Haiti" is copyright of M. NourbeSe Philip and is republished with her permission.

What It Was: Haiti's 1st Ghetto Biennale

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:33:00 +0000

Photo © by John Cussans

In addition to the interesting, unedited video clip (above, courtesy of Emily Troutman), here are some wonderful photos from Haiti's first Ghetto Biennale events, held December 2009, in the Grand Rue area.

The earthquake that hit Haiti, early January, came right on the heels of its first Ghetto Biennale, of which I had considered partaking. Reports on-line have mentioned that some of the Grand Rue scupltors are fine, although I've heard no word on Leah Gordon who helped organize.

Ghetto Biennale looks like it was something very special.

View more photos © Public Radio International, on their Ghetto Biennale Flickr page

"We have stumbled but we will not fall"

— Edwidge Danticat

CALL FOR ARTISTS: Dak’Art - Biennale of African Contemporary Art

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:10:00 +0000

ARTIST: Modou Dieng

African and Diaspora artists are invited to submit their work for consideration to the 9th edition of Dak’Art – Biennale of African Contemporary Art, scheduled 07 May to 07 June 2010.

DEADLINE: 31 December 2009.

Application Procedure

Application must include the following documents digitized and CD-rom/DVD format:

1. Application letter.

2. Detailed Curriculum Vitae: civil status, studies, exhibitions, awards, residencies, publications, Internet links.

3. Two recent passport size photographs (printed AND digitized).

4. Five colour copies of recent works (less than two years old).

5. Technical form describing these works (downloadable on BiennaleDakar.org).

6. Copies of published articles, art magazines and art critic articles on the artist’s work. One or several statements from well-known experts (optional).

Text documents must be presented in .doc, .rtf, .pdf or .txt files.
Pictures and photo documents, including passport photos, must be jpeg, tiff or png files in high resolution, 300 dots per inch. However, artists unable to provide digitized documents are allowed to send application documents printed on paper.
Each picture file must be named with an explicit title and include a text file with name of the file, name of the artist, title of the work, technical description, year, size, and name of the photographer of the work (obligatory).
For photos printed on paper, these details must appear on the back of each photo.
INSTALLATIONS: Join to the application a detailed description of the installations and, if necessary, include a plan and sketches of the installation.
VIDEO WORKS / DIGITAL ART: Join to the application a CD-rom or DVD of the works and any useful information regarding install of the work in the exhibition space.

Please be aware that these documents will not be returned to the artist after the deliberations of the selection committee. They will be added to the Documentation Centre of the Biennale.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The work submitted must not have been shown in any international exhibition.

Application documents must reach the General Secretariat of the Biennale no later than 31 December 2009.

Completed applications must be sent to the following address:

Secrétariat Général de la Biennale de Dakar
19, Avenue Hassan II (ex Avenue Albert Sarraut)
B.P. 3865 Dakar
Sénégal

For further information, visit: BiennaleDakar.org
or the Creative Africa Network, where this call was originally found.

Kehinde Wiley's World Stage

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:49:00 +0000

Artist: Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is one of my favourite American painters. And it's nice to see that he's branching out from the hip-hop inspired, realist paintings he's known for. I'm really liking the ideas he has for this new project, World Stage.

If you have problems viewing this in Internet Explorer (why you're not using Firefox is a mystery to me), then view this clip directly on YouTube.

Denise Alvarado's Mystic Voodoo

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:49:00 +0000

(Day of the Dead Catrina Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

Words cannot express how fascinated I have been with Voodoo doll artist Denise Alvarado over the past few years. As an artist who works with ritual, dare I say it's been quite unbelievable how many times I have come across one of her sites while doing research for an art piece. Beyond her vast amount of research and strength in the way she harnesses and markets her work on the Net, I have found her dolls to be some of the most intricate and beautiful creations, which are a wonderful reflection of the artist herself.

As Ms. Alvarado prepares the final stages of her PhD, I fondly share with you this interview conducted with her during the summer this year, while sending her support, love and respect across the Net. Due to prior commitments, we were unable to get into the history of Voodoo dolls, which was a topic I wanted discussed in this interview. For more information on their history, please visit her Mystic Voodoo Web site. It's an honour, and beyond my deepest pleasure, to introduce this intriguing artist to you....

(Maman Brigit Vodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE: Tell us a bit about yourself.

DENISE ALVARADO: I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of two artists. My Mama was Cherokee and French and my Pop was Spanish, French and Aztec Indian.

[My mother] was a self-taught mystical folk artist, who was a very skilled painter and illustrator. She was good at sewing things also. This is where I learned how to paint and sew. My father was a medical illustrator, and he illustrated a few editions of the Gray’s Anatomy textbook. He used to draw dead bodies in autopsies and the human body from a cellular level to the whole human form. He used to take me to work with him when I was little and sit me down with all of the brand new art supplies any little budding artist could dream of. I loved going to work with him and hanging out in the art department at Louisiana State University Medical School and watching him draw dead bodies. He taught me how to pen and ink when I was eight years old. My first pen and ink was of an old black man, who I believe now to be Legba. It was evident from an early age that I had inherited a great gift from both of my parents and a great appreciation for the macabre from my father. Art was never a struggle for me and I could draw anything I wanted to draw.

(General Purpose Voodoo Doll by Denise Alvarado)

In addition to spending my early years in an art rich environment where my creativity was encouraged and nurtured, I was simultaneously introduced to the mysteries. We would spend weekends at my grandmother’s house in Mississippi. She lived along a bayou in the country. It was there that my aunt would hold séances with me and teach me about candle magick. Looking back at the combination of experiences, it makes sense that I would eventually grow up into a Voodoo artist.

In New Orleans, Voodoo is everywhere both overtly and covertly. It is an inherent part of Creole culture. I would have tarot readings done in the French Quarter, buy candles from the witchcraft shop and oils and incense from the purple people in the flea market. I had several friends who practiced Voodoo and we would conduct rituals and try to contact the dead on a regular basis. My folks never forbade me from doing any of these things and, in fact, they even paid for things for me. My father never really discussed it with me…at least I don’t remember discussing it with him. He never questioned it either. He was more concerned with teaching me about Mother Earth and all of our animal, plant, and rock relatives. He also made me go to catechism. We were raised Catholic. I hated catechism but I went and was confirmed and everything. So, that is where I get my background in Catholicism. As an adult, he just laughed (in good spirit) that I applied what I learned from the Catholic church into becoming a good hoodoo woman.

(Yemaya Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

My folks divorced when I was eight years old. Then they got back together and remarried when I was 11. We moved to Norway where my father was a visiting professor at the University of Tromsö. They divorced again when we came back to New Orleans when I was 13. I always stayed with my father so I missed many years of having a mother around which was very difficult.

Skipping about 10 years and an abusive marriage that yielded one good thing – my daughter, I continued to be an artist. I was also a musician and struggled for many years in New Orleans with being a starving artist and musician. I eventually left New Orleans and pursued a degree in anthropology at Northern Arizona University, an MS in Clinical Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology Research and Evaluation. I am also an ordained reverend. I have written five books, three of which were released this April: Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual, The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook, and The Gypsy Wisdom Spellbook. All of them are selling, however the first two are doing the best. I had no idea there were that many people interested in the history of Voodoo dolls! So that is quite the pleasant surprise.

I am currently employed by Walden University and working on my research, which is the development of a wellness instrument for Native American populations called the Native American Wellness Scale (NAWS). I am also on another research team investigating online learning environments.

KMA: First, I would definitely be remiss not to say that I've been following your sites for a couple of years now and find you to be an extremely fascinating artist. For those of us who are interested in the expression of Vodun culture in North America, particularly the creative and spiritual elements of it, you've definitely become a really important on-line resource and go-to person. Your Squidoo mini-sites and The Mystic Voodoo in particular have a really nice mix of the practical, philosophical and the artistic. And I've found them to be greatly accessible research portals that educate well. Speak to us about the importance of utilizing the Internet for disseminating this type of information and the impact it has on creating a network, a community.

DA: The Internet is an integral part of connecting like-minded people and creating communities in general. I have been learning from the Internet marketing gurus over the years and have applied some of the same principles to making resources about Voodoo and other indigenous religions, as well as my art, easily accessible. For example, e-mail lists, blogs, social networking sites: these are just a few examples of using the Internet to get accurate information out.

(Day of the Dead Catrina Fashionista Vodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

I currently have about 125 Squidoo sites, most of which are about some aspect of Voodoo or the metaphysical. In addition, I have about 20 Web sites that focus on various things and about 12 blogs. My main Web sites are The Mystic Voodoo, Planet Voodoo, and NativeAmericanWellness.com, which is focused on my research. The others are mainly offshoots of the Mystic Voodoo and, in fact, I have created the Mystic Voodoo Web of Intrigue, which is essentially the conceptual umbrella under which all of my sites, blogs, Squidoo lenses and whatever else I have forgotten to mention. You might think that this is overkill; and you may be right, particularly if Voodoo isn’t your thing. But I can pretty much guarantee that most of the folks who visit my sites find them for a reason, and that is because they are looking for good information about Voodoo and Voodoo art.

In addition to being an artist, I am a prolific writer. The Mystic Voodoo became an enormous site and I felt that most of the information was not being utilized as it was intended. I have spent hours upon hours writing and collecting articles and videos that I feel are of good quality and place them on the site. At first, I started to break them into categories, but that meant making more pages. As I have learned more about Web design and marketing, and have begun using analytics to observe the trends on my site, I have found that people will only go two, maybe three, pages deep into a site. So, that is why much was being missed.

(King Zulu Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

I know people want good info about Voodoo and Voodoo art because my e-mail box is laden with requests, questions, enquiries and everything under the sun on a daily basis. I have over 1,000 right now that are unanswered. There is just no way to get to them all. So I broke aspects of the Mystic Voodoo into these other sites that have a specific focus. For example, Planet Voodoo’s focus is on Voodoo dolls and Voodoo doll magick, while Planet Zombi is just about zombies. It is also where I feature my zombie art. Don’t ask, I just went through a phase….

In any event, the Web is also very important for determining what is needed, particularly when you get involved in some of the social network sites and forums. For example, I realized there was a need for a virtual Voodoo temple from requests made on my forum. So I made VoodooTemple.org where there are altars to the various loas and an on-line grimoire. There are a bunch of altar rooms, some with my artwork as altar images, and there is information about the various altars when you enter that page. At least, there will be. It is still in its infancy though; I need to do a lot more work on it to get it to where I envision it.

(Fairy JuJu Doll by Denise Alvarado)

My next main project is creating the on-line Voodoo doll museum. I already have the domain name but the site is not up yet. I have a wonderful collection of vintage Voodoo dolls, as well as my own Voodoo dolls that I have made and purchased from some wonderful artists. Sometimes I see a piece and I get it just to put it in the museum. Of course the museum will showcase much of my own work as well.

Because of the Internet, I have met some incredible people, both artists and those who appreciate art, from all over the world. I am incredibly inspired by much of what I find on the Web either because it strikes me spiritually and creatively, or because it is such crap that I am compelled to change it.

Lastly, I must offer up props to Ogun for making the technology of the World Wide Web a possibility. Respect.

KMA: Your Voodoo dolls are some of the most beautiful things I've seen. When did you develop a strong interest in them in general and what propelled you to start making your own?

(Voodoo Mammy Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

DA: I was given my first Voodoo doll when I was around five or six, but I can’t remember who gave it to me, whether it was my mother or my auntie. I remember keeping it in my “magick box,” which I kept underneath a chest of drawers in my room. I kept it with my gypsy witch fortune-telling cards and some Native American things my Mom and Dad had given me. I loved that box…it was my special box of magick.

I never worked a Voodoo doll until I was in the fifth grade. There was this algebra teacher that everyone hated in the class. I guess he was mean, but to be honest, I can’t remember why the disdain. In any event, I had been conducting séances for a long time with my friends, and I used to get my classmates to do the "light as a feather" thing, where you lift someone up with two fingers. I remember we would do this in the classroom when the teacher would step out. Anyway, this teacher created such a stir among the students that I decided to experiment with my Voodoo doll — the same one that I had kept so carefully in my box since I was five or six. I focused really hard on making this guy burn for treating us so badly. This was on a Friday. The following Monday, he came to school with second degree burns from a sunburn. Did that happen because of my little spell? Maybe, maybe not. But I can say that at that point, I knew that I had tapped into something within myself. This fueled a lifelong fascination with and respect for the powerful art of conjure.

(Oshun Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

I made a few dolls over the years but never considered myself a doll artist. I only used them for ritual. But in 2004, I was having a real hard time financially and personally. My son’s father and I had split; I had two herniated discs in my back and couldn’t work for awhile, and was falling behind. That Christmas I received a visit by Papa Legba who told me to create a doll of him and sell it on eBay. Mind you, this was way out of the norm for me in terms of where I was in my life at the time. I had been focusing largely on my Native roots as an adult and really pushed the Voodoo under the rug a long time ago. I had to because of the discrimination and abuse I suffered for it. But that’s another story.

Anyway, not only had I never created a doll in the likeness of a loa or any other deity before, I had never even created an art doll before. My main medium for most of my life was acrylics and pen and ink. Nor had I sold much on eBay. I thought it was a crazy idea…I had no idea people were actually selling Voodoo dolls on eBay. Well, I made this Papa Legba doll and sold him for $10.00. I immediately got requests for more dolls and all kinds of people saying how much they loved him and did I have anymore. So I made all of the Seven African Powers and plenty more Legbas and sold them all for $10.00 each. I found that I enjoyed creating these Voodoo art dolls, and loved it that I could actually sell them. I soon discovered that I was not selling them for near the amount of money that they were worth in terms of time and energy. I had yet to realize my worth as a Voodoo artist.

I also gained an understanding of how an object can be imbued with spirit and come "alive."

Things slowly changed when I had so many requests on and off of eBay that I decided to create a Web site to showcase them and sell them. This was the birth of the Mystic Voodoo. Many of my dolls sell for 12 times as much now as they did then.

Papa Legba is still my main man. He is constantly providing opportunities for me and helping me when the going gets tough. He also provides hours of entertainment. I couldn’t ask for a better Papa.

(Papa Legba Voodoo doll by Denise Alvarado)

Please check out some of Denise Alvarado's Web sites:
The Mystic Voodoo: Where Art, Psychology and Mythology Collide
Planet Voodoo
Squidoo
Planet Zombi
Voodoo Temple
The Native American Wellness Scale

All artwork is copyright of Denise Alvarado and is republished with her permission.

Dharma Punx Against the Stream

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:58:00 +0000

Noah Levine, Buddhist teacher and author of Dharma Punx
(IE browser problems? Then watch this clip on YouTube)

Noah Levine will be in Toronto, Saturday, October 17th, 2009, to run an "Inner Revolution" workshop. I'm really glad the proceeds will be going to programs for at-risk and incarcerated youth.

Ghetto Biennale 2009, Port-au-Prince

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:29:00 +0000

GHETTO BIENNALE: A SALON DES REFUSES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Call For Proposals: 15 July 2009

The Grand Rue Sculptors are a community of artists living in a downtown slum neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. This is the newest art community to have emerged in the last ten years. Their work has opened entirely new vistas into the creative possibilities of the Vodou-inspired arts of Haiti. Their muscular sculptural collages of engine manifolds, computer entrails, TV sets, medical debris, skulls and discarded lumber transforms the detritus of a failing economy into deranged, post-apocalyptic totems.

Forging a successful arts career is difficult for a downtown Haitian. Refused US entry visas, the Grand Rue sculptors were excluded from a private view of their work in a major museum in Miami. A lack of government support makes them economically excluded from all major biennales. The artists have responded by hosting the Ghetto Biennale, the first arts festival located in a shantytown in the [re]developing world.

The event will explore what happens when artists from radically different backgrounds come together. When "first world" art objectives encounter "third world" artistic reality, and when Western artists try to make art in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haitian artist, André Eugène says, "the Ghetto Biennale represents positive change in my area and gives us the chance to show another face of life in the ghettos of Port-au-Prince. I think we have much to offer and much to learn."

More info: ghetto BIENNALE 2009 Web site
And, check out: the Grand Rue Sculptors' Web site

Greatest Hits: Abdul Mati Klarwein

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:40:00 +0000

(Click to enlarge Blessing by Abdul Mati Klarwein)

I have to hand it to the sis over at Style Noir who rocked this wonderful Abdul Mati Klarwein piece on her post months back, along with a really lush video art piece by Piper Carter and Ogechi Chieke that was just incredibly beautiful.

(Click to enlarge Exterminating Angel by Abdul Mati Klarwein)

I was especially happy to see Klarwein's work again as I had always recognized his painting style, but his name had always escaped me. Up until then, I had never taken the time to "rediscover" his art on the Internet, so I've been spending time checking out his Web site, which has a hot little selection of works I hadn't seen before. So it's been a pleasure.

(Click to enlarge Yusef Lateef by Abdul Mati Klarwein)

I've loved his work since casting my eyes on that classic Santana album cover, Abraxas — a greeting card print of it has been a mainstay next to my bed for over a decade. That '60s surrealist/Romare Beardon-esque collage/expressive/painting style of his — still, to this day — is just ever so lovely.

(Click to enlarge Astral Body Awake by Abdul Mati Klarwein)

Michael Jackson: 1958-2009

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:21:00 +0000

(A young Janet and Michael Jackson)

Today, DJ LT Ruck sent me his latest podcast from his Toronto the slow & Ez show and it is quite nice, starting off with SWV's cover version of "Human Nature" (which has always been a personal favourite), so I thought I'd share.

MICHAEL JACKSON 1958-2009

LT Ruck(dj) Toronto the slow & Ez show

It's quite hard for me to put into words my thoughts on Michael Jackson's passing, although I have been surprised at the very strong range of emotions that I've been feeling since hearing the news yesterday afternoon. I've always liked his earlier work — his 1979 Off the Wall album will always be my key pick, "I Can't Help It," my song of choice. Watching early interview clips from his late teens, I find particularly heartbreaking for reasons just far too complicated to get into.

Do, however, check out Davey D's latest post, "Looking Through the Window" on Davey D's Hip Hop Corner (always a guaranteed good read on rap music and politics). Davey D wrote a really great, spot-on remembrance of the the singer, which will resonate for all who have felt impacted by Jackson's talent in our lifetime. His post reminded me of a couple things that I had forgotten about from my childhood in relation to the Jackson 5 and contextualized quite perfectly Michael's legacy within the hip-hop scene of the late '80s/early '90s especially, of which is my generation. And it's fitting.

Leslie Peters: To Serve and Protect

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:13:00 +0000

(Click to enlarge talisman by Leslie Peters)

TALISMANS FOR THE HOME
An interview with Leslie Peters

This is a very wonderful series. And I have wanted, yearned, for an interview with an artist – both brave enough, and in touch enough – who would speak more to the metaphysical expressed in one's art practice, for an artist to speak to the experience of being an artist healer. And finally....

KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE: As artists, when we branch out from a genre we're best known in, there is usually some part of that medium we carry into our new stream of work. When I look at your video projects, they are quite ephemeral, lush in colour, and very sensation and sensory-based. Often they have had to do with the idea of "home," where you're from. Beyond these elements, what would you say is a connecting thread that you have brought into these new sculptural works?

(Click to enlarge talisman by Leslie Peters)

LESLIE PETERS: My video work has always been rooted in the landscape, both natural and constructed, and often has flavours of "home" both in where I came from, where I grew up. For me the ideas of legacy, emotional patterns that are passed down through generations, and place have always been important. Whether it be natural landscapes or homes, places carry emotional memories, they carry a resonance of the events and emotional charges that unfolded in the specific location. All of these things inform my practice as an artist regardless of the medium. In talismans for the home, I use materials that I have some kind of history with — whether it's mine or someone elses — and combine these objects together, creating its own unique energetic pattern, which is ultimately infused with the emotional resonance I brought to them.

KMA: How did the idea of making these talismans come about?

LP: There really wasn't a process of thinking about the talismans. It began when I was visiting family in Cape Breton, where my familial roots are. On this trip, I began collecting lots of things: rocks, sticks, etc., and then my aunt gave me her mother's silver spoon collection. I had all these things that I felt were coming to me for some reason and was really enjoying spending time with them.

(Click to enlarge talisman by Leslie Peters)

One night I stayed up all night by myself and began wrapping all of these objects together using twine and metal and felt like I had really found something, that I was making these things and it just felt so right. My sister likes to call this my "rapture" time as I was in quite a state for many months around this time frame. I was a bit "mad" for sure and felt so connected to the objects I found and collected, like they had so much in them, so many memories and symbologies that weren't exactly clear to me, but I was compelled to continue making them. I wasn't sure what they were, but they kept coming, and I felt very strong urges to make them for particular people in my life knowing that they would somehow help them in their personal journeys. So that's essentially how it started, from a real gut place and not at all from a thinking headspace.

Later on I gave it more thought and made the connections to my overall practice and to the ideas that objects carry emotional memories in the same ways that landscape had in my video practice. I did a lot of research to try to figure out what these things were, as it seemed like they were more than just a sculptural practice but more like sacred objects. I found references through shamanism and other spirtitual practices that made sense and things became clearer. I could see that they were talismans that essentially were to exist in people's homes, power objects, sacred items. I think also people's reactions to them when I gifted them were also very telling. Most people treated them as very special objects and put them on their altars or in special places in their homes. In some cases, I would direct them as to where they should be — beside the bed or wherever. Again, I just went on my gut with this information in the same way as I made them, feeling more like I was channeling something rather than really completely in charge of the creative process.

(Click to enlarge talismans by Leslie Peters)

KMA: You made over 50 pieces for talismans for the home. What was your creative process like?

LP: Making the work for this show was a bit different. As I didn't make them for specific people, this made it a bit more difficult at times since focusing on an individual was really the way they mostly came to fruition. Instead, for this body of work, I focused on particular emotions, of how I felt in any given moment, and used that as my guide throughout the creation process, trusting that the owners would then find the talismans that they were most drawn to. And it seems to be the case. Everyone has their favourites in the exhibition and I can see the connections when they tell me. It gives me insight into the viewers as well as into the talismans.

Ultimately, I really enjoy making them custom for people, when I have a clear picture of that person in my mind and an idea of where that person is in his/her life, even when it's a stranger. I find that people will give me clues about what they want or need and I can use that as my entry point into the creation of their personal talisman.

(Click to enlarge talisman by Leslie Peters)

KMA: What was "home" like for you growing up? What were some of the experiences you encountered that were significant enough to maintain its presence in this work?

LP: The idea that household items retain some kind of resonance or memory with the place they existed in is really what drew me in to this body of work. The household items, to me, hold the secrets that are not often revealed within a family. Much of my experience growing up was an erasure of the past. There was this fear in my family of acknowledging negative or traumatic experiences — a literal denial that certain events occurred or were actually even significant in the larger scheme of things. This always felt wrong to me. I see the past as a vehicle for the future, a looking back to reclaim, learn and grow into the present.

(Click to enlarge talismans by Leslie Peters)

I think because I felt denied of truth, I looked towards the relics of the family for insight into this erased past. Physical objects have always held a lot of power for me, and familial relics in particular. I have been the one to hold on to these items and then pass them along to other family members after I have released the negative charge they contained. This is what I feel I do with the talismans: I refigure the components from being representations of trauma and release them and refigure them into tools for healing.

For me the relics represent a reclaiming of history in an energetic way. I may never know the details of what actually unfolded in the history of my family, before I arrived on the scene, but the items I work with represent that longing and desire to know and to heal, to break the cycle of denial, secrecy and shame that can span generations.

KMA: You mentioned shamanic and other spiritual references. Your tongs reminded me of African masks immediately; there was just something in the construction of them that took me there, even though there is no face or bodily form to those pieces. Celtic love spoons was another image that came to my mind, considering the use of cultlery as your works' base. What is always interesting is how many cultural and mystical references inadvertently click into place in ways that strengthen the dialogue in an artist's work without conscious intent of what one is channelling. What did you come to learn about your series that was not initially apparent to you during, or at the start of, its creation?

(Click to enlarge talismans by Leslie Peters)

LP: It always is interesting when you work in an intuitive way to uncover what's actually going on beforehand. This has always been the way that I make work and its often frustrating to not know exactly how to articulate what it is you are doing until after the fact. As I was working on these pieces I made some interesting discoveries about the elemental forces and the symbology I was using through the materials. The tarot suits really became apparent to me in the work: forks representing the earth element; the suit of pentacles or disks, shells and spoons; water, the cup suit; knives were the swords, the elemental energy of air; and, the sticks and pokers were the wands, the fire element.

I am in a course right now that is heavily founded in elemental energies and I spend between six to eight weeks working with crystals and meditations that directly correspond to each of the elemental forces and their healing properties. At first I didn't make the connection with my artistic practice, but when I was working in the air element I found myself only wanting to work with knives. During this time, I also went for a tarot reading which was when the connection to the suits and the elemental forces became clearer. This was really insightful for me. I feel like now, looking at the talismans with more detachment, I can further interpret their meanings through the symbologies of the materials that I used and the meanings or resonances with the stones, colours, and animal representations. This insight is quite amazing to me as when I create it is truly through intuiting or, as you have described, channelling.

KMA: What has your journey been like as an emerging healer?

LP: When I read your question it made me sqeamish to take on the identity as a healer; it makes me question the place of the ego with healing or any health care practice. I think the idea of healer as an identity is a strange one in and of itself and that's where my uncomfortability lies. But this truth of healing as a gift for everyone, a birthright in fact, resonates much more clearly with me. My healing journey has been an ongoing one over the past 20 years. As a teenager I began seeing a "talk" therapist, as well as group/family and addictions counsellors, and have taken some training courses in psychodrama and psychodramatic bodywork. I worked with an amazing chiropactor and craniosacral therapist who walked me through some very difficult times in my life and taught me a lot about myself through working with my body and energy fields.

A few years ago, I began to really get into crystals. I just loved them and bought them and would gift them to people I knew and to random strangers on the streets. I felt compelled intuitively to give them to people and began to do more and more research on their metaphysical meanings. This was such a strong pull. I knew it was time to leave the life of arts admin so I signed up for this distance healing course called Crystal Resonance Therapy. I didn't think about it much, I just one day made the call and I was in. I really had no idea what I was getting into! At the same time I began seeing a gifted Reiki practioner. Working with both is where I really got down to the serious business of delving into core issues and finding the healing of past traumas.

In the winter I got my first degree in Reiki and began practising on anyone that would let me. I knew when I signed up for the Certified Reiki Training course I was interested in working as a healer, but having the first experience of working with a client solidified the deal. This was what I needed to do, it felt so right, I had indeed found my calling. Throughout this year, doing so much of my own healing work, I felt like I could really finally reconnect with a part of myself – the intuitive and knowing part.

(Click to enlarge talismans by Leslie Peters)

Since I was a kid I always had a sense of what was going on under the surface of things. I suppose you could call it empathic, picking up on what others were feeling. I didn't really question it then 'cause it was just how it was. But you learn quickly that it's not something that is really supported in this society, that's not based on tangibility and facts. It often felt like a burden as feeling other people's feelings can be really unpleasant and really confusing, what's mine and what's theirs.

I feel like most people have this capability really and I question if I learned this as a way of survival, trying to anticipate and know what others were experiencing so I could "manage" the situation in some way. Hard to say, but I do know that this is really helpful for me in working as a healer. The process of being able to have detachment and to be able to discern what is mine and what is not is really liberating. Finding a way, through my healing practice, where this intuitive side of myself can fully exist while assisting others in their healing journey is amazing. It was a shocking experience to me when I first laid hands on someone in a healing context. One of the first things I thought was that this is such an honour and a privlege to work with someone so intimately on their personal journey.

I honestly am not sure if there is a place within the arts community for emerging healers, at least I haven't discovered it yet. A part of me stepped away from the arts as I shifted into this new path. For sure there are many artists that seem to be working in the healing arts that I am discovering, but I haven't quite yet found my place in this particular community. These things take time I suppose. I wouldn't say I have fully come out within the arts community as a healer either. Part of that is I still feel like I am finding my footing and the confidence to fully inhabit this new role. I think that visual arts and healing arts run parallel for me. With the talismans I am trying to find the intersection of the two, but so far it's a more internal process, like coming out as queer, there is a period of self-reflection. My practice as an artist is most often a solitary one, and healing is similar, although you work with clients.

KMA: After this show, where will people be able to find your talismans?

LP: The show has been extended to May 29th, so come and check it out. All of the works are for sale! I am also in the process of setting up an etsy shop where I will be selling talismans, power objects and healing tools as well as offering custom made works for individuals, their homes and sacred spaces. For now you can contact me at flintandfluff@gmail.com. My etsy shop will be up in the next month under the same name flintandfluff.

Leslie Peters' exhibition talismans for the home runs until May 29th at Fleishman Gallery in WonderWorks, 79A Harbord Street, Toronto.

Artlogger's note: There is a spot-on piece on coming out as a healer on the Empowered Soul blog. To those for whom that post will resonate, you can read it here.

All artwork is copyright of Leslie Peters and is published with the permission of the artist.

Remember: Gwendolyn Johnston & Washington Savage

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Washington Savage / photograph by Jim Allen

This definitely wasn't the post I was planning, but with the announcement of the passing of Gwendolyn Johnston, co-founder of Third World Books & Crafts, and musician Washington Savage, I felt it important to share some information about the lives of two people who were prominent members of the Black and greater Toronto community. Both impacted my life in remarkable ways and, upon reflection, I couldn't imagine my experience of this life without ever having known them. And I'm thankful.

Following is a press release, passed onto me by Kwame Younge, on Washington Savage's life, so I won't expand on it much more. What I will say is that it's a great summation of the type of person he was. My first introduction to him occurred when I was a DJ at CKLN, back in the early '90s, with my last and brief conversation with him taking place in the Annex on Bloor back in the late summer/early fall of 2008. He was one of the many warm, creative and witty musicians that I met during my eleven years in radio. His relentless community-centred way of navigating through projects was something, along with his obvious talent, that I admired — talking with him, was always guaranteed to be somewhat "entertaining."

What I did want to write a bit about was the importance of Gwen Johnston, who also came into my life in the early '90s, as it was a different type of sadness I felt when I learned of her passing early evening yesterday.

GWENDOLYN JOHNSTON

What I know of Gwen's personal life, is quite limited, but here are some personal reflections about what was important about her and Third World Books, and by association, her late husband Lenny Johnston.

For those of us of African descent, the period of young adulthood is often spent searching and claiming a balanced and healthier understanding of our heritage: being out of high school tends to do this to you, but that's a whole other post, and I fear I will digress, as it's been known to happen. But Third World Books was pretty much the intellectual version of the Caribbean barbershop in that it was truly a place where people just dropped in to have political discussions, possibly argue with the 5 percenters, meet local writers, media makers, artists and Africanist thinkers, learn about the latest activist gathering and perhaps join a Black-focused study group, and maybe, after all that, buy a few books in between.

For enterprising Black youth in the early '90s (a period I consider a renaissance), it was especially significant: Third World Books was one of the first places that enthusiastically carried At the Crossroads, a Black women's art journal I was publishing, 2 Black Guys (a modest start-up at that time) was selling their shirts out of their basement, countless authors who self-published or were with small presses found an outlet for their publications, as did artisans and those selling crafts.

Many Caribbean youth can attest that the arts isn't something whole-heartedly supported by our parents for a broad number of reasons, so support is often something you have to dig for deep in yourself if you're serious about your path. Living on my own, creating, attending university, starting a business: these were the heart of my life in my very early twenties. And the Johnston's were like the doting grandparents who I had lost at an age too young to bring up memories. They were encouraging, hoping you did well, and valuing all that you tried to do. And, unlike many adults, they took you seriously.

Those who have been or continue to remain in publishing will understand well when I say that the industry is everything tough. The struggles I had with my magazine were ongoing: lack of money, volunteer-run, no grants in the early years, meagre ones later on, and an unbelievable number of hours spent in production, soliciting and publicizing. I still remember with much affection Gwen and Lenny's concern when I came in after a nine-month publishing drought: "Are you bringing in your magazine? Are you still publishing? You haven't stopped?" Almost in unison, looking at me intently — their encouragement heartened me, as I pulled fresh copies out of my bag. They didn't want me, or any other youth, to give up. They understood what was necessary. And they knew that you could do it.

And it's a wonderful sadness I feel now, as I can't imagine these formative years being what they were without having experienced them in my life.

Royson James of the Toronto Star has mentioned Gwen Johnston's passing in an article, which you can check out here along with her obituary that includes funeral details. I hope someone does the same for Washington Savage, whose obituary can be found here; as you will read, his accomplishments were nothing short of remarkable, and it's important for others to know on whose shoulders they stand.

Both Gwen and Washington, I am sure, are being well-received by the ancestors. The party on the other side must be absolutely amazing.

WASHINGTON SAVAGE

Washington Savage / photograph by Ron Jocsak

Washington Savage, acclaimed as one of Toronto’s most beloved, recognizable and talented pianists passed away early Friday morning. His versatility as an accomplished pianist, producer, arranger, composer, lyricist and musical director, led him to perform and write music for a broad array of artists.

At the young age of 16, and already showing amazing skill, Washington was hand picked by Salome Bey (Canada’s own Ambassador of Blues and honourary Order of Canada recipient) to be her pianist. Savage went on to perform in every type of venue: from church halls to stadiums.

His volunteer work centered around youth choirs, giving the members guidance in a variety of genres, encouraging them to value music, whereby discipline, study, and education helped them make decisions in their lives based on tolerance, freedom of thought and choice.

Raised in the church, he formed his first choir God’s Creation, which helped to harness his love of tones and shapes within the cornucopia of colours that is music — his specialty.

His extraordinary gifts, talent and versatility led him to work with artists such as Deborah Cox, Billy Newton Davis, Margie Evans, Shannon Maracle, Jackie Richardson, and Liberty Silver (for whom he was a co-writer) to name a few. He performed for such dignitaries as Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and the former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

His many tours, both here and abroad, included Molly Johnson’s Juno award-winning band The Infidels, Tom Cochrane’s Red Rider, as well as the late Jeff Healey for his Feel This Tour and with whom he recorded this third album.

As an arranger and composer, his theatre productions have included Coming Through Slaughter, the Dora Mavor Moore award-winning play Indigo with Salome Bey, Mamma I Want To Sing (the longest running, Black off-Broadway musical in history), and, most recently, the Berkley Street Theatre production of Steal Away Home by Shauntay Grant. Washington had been Musical Director for the last eight years for the Harry Jerome Awards and, adding to that, in recent years the Crystal Awards for WIFT (Women in Film and Television) and SAWW (South African Women for Women).

He founded two original bands, Age of Reason and BLÄXAM, who signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music, USA (New York). Their CD Kiss my Afro was released independently in 1998 to critical acclaim. BLAXAM achieved great success opening for such performers as Roy Ayers, Corey Glover (Living Color), Maceo Parker and the Reverend Al Green.

Playing regularly for many years in Toronto’s most prestigious restaurants, bars and lounges has solidified his reputation in the hearts of Torontonians as a beloved musician and entertainer: North44, the Windsor Arms Hotel, Sassafraz, Centro, Aqua, Rosewood (for which he was also the talent booker), Opal Jazz Lounge, Cittadini and Sopra Upper Lounge.

2007 saw the debut of his solo piano CD entitled Savage Piano Lounge. An independent release on Sweet 16 Records, it showcases his versatility and includes two original songs: “Tyrant Saint Blues” and “One of Three.”

Savage was anticipating the premiere performance of the first movement from his symphony by the Brampton Symphony Orchestra in November 2008. The “Froadia” symphony first came to light when Savage was to write an opening piece for the Harry Jerome Awards while he was Musical Director. The first movement was inspired by Jerome and is therefore named “Harry Jerome.”

Consisting of five movements, this symphony was Washington’s first foray into the untapped resources of the Black Canadian classical composer. The second movement was inspired by “Uncle” Marcus, Washington’s brother who passed away — a hauntingly unforgettable ode to the tyrant on the hill. The third movement entitled “Ben Johnson,” who the composer thought of as a hero, is a mercurial piece of Canadiana, tracing the twists and turns of Johnson’s being bounced between nationalities like a Tim Horton’s Timbit at a hockey tournament. The honourable Lincoln Alexander is the focus of the fourth movement, a vastly romantic, highly intelligent, wise and observant tone is defined here. The final piece, entitled “Spadina and Dundas” captures the daily lives — the loves, the hardships, struggles and victories — of the many Black families that settled in that section of Toronto between the 1940s through to the 1960s.

Washington Savage was truly an original.

Washington's service will take place Sunday, May 10th at Toronto Perth Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church, located at 243 Perth Avenue (Bloor Street West and Symington Avenue area). Viewing will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The funeral service will commence at 11:00 a.m. Directions can be found here.

Memento Mori – Call for Contributions

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:02:00 +0000

(Click to enlarge: Day of the Dead Catrina by Denise Alvarado)

I just received this call from FADO and thought many of my readers would be interested in this call for submissions. This project looks like a great one. I have omitted the link for their General Submission Guidelines because presently it doesn't work. I say, just e-mail the editors directly if you have any questions.

On another note.... If you're loving the above artwork, then check out Denise Alvarado's The Mystic Voodoo Web site for some truly amazing work. And check back mid-May for my interview with her.

Performance Research
Vol. 15, No. 1 (March 2010)

Memento Mori – Call for Contributions
Issue Editors: Robert John Brocklehurst and Daniel Watt, Loughborough University

The aim of this issue of Performance Research is to examine cultural representations of death and dying and their relation to performance. Calling on professionals and practitioners from across academia, the arts and the "death industry," "Memento Mori" will include a range of critical essays, photographic work, artist’s pages and interviews that explore the ways in which death and the cultural practices that surround it are represented and memorialized in social and private spaces, from theatre to everyday ritual.

"Memento Mori" examines ways in which performance brings the processes of death, dying, and the memorialisation of the dead to consciousness. Theatre, performance and the cultural practices of death are themselves moments that bring mortality to mind, which enable us to reflect upon our own lives and the lives of those departed. Performance equally struggles with the passing of its own event and the complex archival activity that stands in place of its vanishing.
How do the dynamics of performance itself provide an engagement with the process of dying? How do recent advances in technology change formalized cultural approaches to dying, and has death become mechanical, dutiful and deliberately distanced as a consequence? How does "staging" death, as a cultural approach to funeral ritual, alter our perception of death?

Despite our best attempts at seriousness and respect, issues of death and dying provoke grim humour, sensationalist performances and slapstick comedy. This issue questions how and why we attempt to negotiate the processes of death and dying or find representations and memorializations that attempt to normalize the inevitable.

KEY QUESTIONS:

How do diverse theatrical and performance events, from the sideshow to Hamlet, provoke reflection upon mortality, and the processes of death and dying? By what means do the activities associated with death (oratories, literary readings, music, design, costume and procession) serve similar demands across cultures, and how can the ritual processes of dying and death still resist cultural homogenization?

The representation of death often requires the ornate, the hidden and the procedural in opposition to its reality: the banal, the apparent and the random. What new or re-considered forms of language or praxis do we, as beings and as cultures, need to engage with the fact of dying and death? How have the many forms of historical representation of death, from mourning ritual to charlatan photographic "ghosts," become a form of spectral discourse for something that cannot be directly confronted?

POTENTIAL TOPICS INCLUDE:

Death Ritual: from the Mexican Day of the Dead to mummification
Death Devouring: from Tibetan sky burials to the taboo of cannibalism
Memento Mori: from the Danse Macabre to the ornate tombstone
"Et in Arcadia Ego": death, presence and impossibility
Of Dying: from the Ars Moriendi to the ethics of suicide clinics
Staging Death: from the ghost in Hamlet to the macabre Grand-Guignol
Death Defying: from being shot to the live burials of the sideshow
Representing the After-Life: from the ghostly emanations of Victorian ectoplasm and tabletapping to the modern séances of Derren Brown
Death Exhibit: from curating death to the autopsies of Gunther von Hagens
Death Penalty: from the performance of public executions to the Web broadcast of terrorist murder
Death Industry: from the art of the obituary to floral tributes

"Memento Mori" invites proposals for articles, artist’s pages and other documents for this issue. In the first instance please send proposals of 300-500 words (full articles should ONLY be sent after acceptance to proceed to draft stage).

For artist’s pages and other documents please send a sample of up to 3 images (or other material) and an accompanying rationale of 200-300 words.

DEADLINES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Proposals: 15 May 2009
Draft Manuscripts: 1 August 2009
Publication date: March 2010

ALL proposals, submissions and general enquiries should be sent direct to:

Sandra Laureri
Administrator, Performance Research
Centre for Performance Research (CPR)
Aberystwyth, SY23 3AJ
Tel: +44 (0)1970 628716
Fax: +44 (0)1970 622132
E-mail: performance-research@aber.ac.uk
Web: performance-research.net

EDITORIAL ENQUIRES:
Bob Brocklehurst, r.brocklehurst@lboro.ac.uk
or, Dan Watt, d.p.watt@lboro.ac.uk

Performance Research is MAC-based. Proposals will be accepted in hard copy, on CD or by e-mail (MS Word or RTF). Please DO NOT send images electronically without prior agreement.

Please note that submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript, the author(s) agree that the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article have been given to Performance Research.

Creative Soulsters of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:45:00 +0000

(The indisputable Mother of Punk, Nina Hagen is this artist's choice.)

I get pretty retro when I need to dig for inspiration, which usually leads me to favourite black and white films, beat poets and pretty much all things referential to my childhood and the period twenty years prior. Like many artists, I have an extremely specific way of working. When I write, it can only be to wild, free and experimental jazz: Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, Lester Bowie, Pharoah Sanders...absolutely anything with horns that will screech at me. When I paint, it's almost similar as there's a specific type of passion I need to form the soundtrack of my process. In most cases, it has to be something with a really banging beat, a raw and heavy guitar, an experimental vocal, or powered with politics.

Late last year, I dusted off my NunSexMonkRock album, which totally rocked me through two recent works and energized my spirit like nothing else. Back when I bought the record (yes, I have it on vinyl people!), I had chosen it on a fluke out of all the other Nina Hagen records out at that time. Call it shallow, but it was definitely the cover, and the fact that "Smack Jack" was on it. And still, it's a classic. In the early '80s, I remember Nina in interviews discussing the fusion of her spirituality and her music, and I have to be honest, when she started on the UFO trip, momentarily she lost me. But I never stopped loving her.

In recent years, as my own work has envisioned my own spiritual temperment and combines of pop with the arcane, I can emphatically say that the impact she had on me as a youth was deeply significant and perhaps now I appreciate it so much more.

There were always out-of-the-box, creative women that I admired, from Lydia Lunch to Nina Simone to Grace Jones, but those who love Nina Hagen would definitely say that there is absolutely no one else to compare. For me, she has always been that artist who fearlessly branched out on a very unusual and unique path, singing from every angle of her ridiculously strong operatic range, being very open about her unique spiritual journey, her animal rights politics, her outlandish cabaret-meets-punk performance, her business savvy — in Ifá, one might say that she is truly "master of her head." Nina has always been a prime example of what truly being deep in your art really is, and when you're at that point, there is absolutely no separation.

NINA HAGEN:
My individual God identity.

(Smack Jack by Nina Hagen)

To some of the creative people in my life, I have posed two questions: Which artist would you identify as having a creative passion that transcends genre? And, how has this person impacted your own artistic practice?

Here is a selection of their key choices.

ALEX HALEY:
When you start about family, about lineage and ancestry, you are talking about every person on earth.

"My source of inspiration is Alex Haley, the author of Roots. I remember sitting in front of the television transfixed by the images of this most controversial mini-series. It wasn't until much later that I actually read the book and realized the real power and beauty of documenting our journey. This gave me the spark to make movies. Over the years, I've seen the potential for reflection and growth and I think no matter what type of film I will make it will come from a place that is real to me."

ALISON DUKE
Filmmaker, Producer, Director
Location: Toronto, ON
http://AlisonDuke.com
http://www.ASweetLittleP.com

FRIDA KAHLO:
Painting completed my life.

(Click to enlarge: The Dream by Frida Kahlo)

"Frida Kahlo hands down. She fearlessly created images that reflected her sorrow, joy, pain, and love — all the things that make us human. I've always been a fan of surrealism and her work definitely falls into that category. Her work was the first I had seen like that by a woman of colour and it made me want to use my own artwork as a means to address subjects that are more personal. It put me on that path and helped me to find a niche for myself that, until then, was lacking. Overall, it made me want to always make work that came from an honest place and to have complete freedom in doing it. That's what I want my artistic existence to be like."

WANDA EWING
Printmaker, Painter
Location: Omaha, NE
http://www.WandaEwing.com

GEORGE CARLIN:
May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.

(Airline Announcements by George Carlin)

"One of the artists who had a profound impact on the way I think about the world was the stand-up comedian George Carlin. I didn't know how important he was to me until he died in 2008. Then I realized that listening to his work as a young person back in the 1970s had opened my mind both to the possibilities of language — how he confronted and contorted words — and to the possibility for intelligent, unsentimental tenderness. His art was a balance of rage and love, and it drove a talent for speaking that has rarely been matched. I don't generally aspire to comedy in my own work, but it was from Carlin that I learned that irreverence must be joined at the hip with sincerity if it is to have any validity."

SHAUN SMITH
Writer
Location: Toronto, ON
http://www.ShaunSmith.ca

JANE ASH POITRAS:
In our dreams the spirits tell us things.

(Click to enlarge: Rebirth of the Four Coyote Spirits by Jane Ash Poitras)

"The work of Cree/Chipewyan, artist Jane Ash Poitras is described as densely packed compositions that are sometimes bewildering. And as Robert Enright (1992) writes 'the viewer's reaction is to duck in an effort to let the visual overkill pass on by. But most often her complicated, impatient art holds on to us and we become less confused victims than stimulated partners in her quest to pose — whether they seem right or wrong in the asking — all the questions' (Border Crossings). In Poitras’ visual work I hear what I want to articulate but can not say. Sparks ignite in my heart, my spirit, my body, my mind and I am spoken to. The address is not easy but it is offered and I choose not to duck."

SUSAN D. DION
Writer
Location: Toronto, ON
http://edu.apps01.yorku.ca/profiles/dion-susan
http://www.ubcpress.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=299171936

JUDITH SCHAECHTER:
Beauty is to art what love is to life.

(Click to enlarge: Respecting the Bag by Judith Schaechter)

"Judith Schaechter is a stained glass artist who uses modern themes and images. While sometimes (many times) disturbing, her pieces are created with such beauty and skill that a sacred stillness is imparted to them. It makes us see the beauty and tragedy that affects all aspects of society. As as a fellow artist/craftsperson, it inspires me to bring my medium to a higher level of workmanship and purpose."

WENDY EDSALL-KERWIN
Jewelry Artist, Metalsmith
Location: Elizabethtown, PA
http://Hammermarks.wordpress.com
http://www.HammerStrokeAndFire.com

LEE MARACLE:
It is the truth of our lives that moves us to look again.

"I would say that Lee Maracle is the artist/writer who comes to mind when I think about your question. Many years ago, she facilitated a workshop for the Women of Colour Collective in Calgary that literally changed my life. Among many things, the workshop helped me to perceive self in terms of body, spirit, heart and mind. It named a way of thinking about self that I had sensed intuitively but hadn't yet put into words. Her practice crosses oratory, storytelling, poetry, fiction, activism, drama, and memory of the land."

RITA WONG
Writer
Location: Vancouver, BC
http://blogs.eciad.ca/ritawong/

RZA:
Crazy flamboyant for the rap enjoyment / My clan increase like black unemployment!

(Tragedy by RZA)

"I would say Robert 'Rakeem' Diggs, also known as RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan, is, unequivocably, one inspirational individual in my life. RZA took the philosophies behind martial arts like kung fu and tai chi, and fused them with his business practices and his public image at a time when only the most singular and clichéd depictions of black male vocalists in hip hop were given any acknowledgement. The awkward genius vocabulary of a name like RZA (pronounced "Rizza") even warped my adolescent little mind like never before. Plus, the way he brought his aura to all his subsequent artistic ventures (music production, clothing lines, sneakers, non-fiction books, comic books, movie production, scoring film, music equipment production, and more) shows me that the sky is not the limit when defining how to combine creative passion in both art and life."

ADHIMU "MINDBENDER" STEWART
MC, Writer
Location: Toronto, ON
http://www.reverbnation.com/mindbender
http://www.mindbenderfuturama.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/mindbendermind

The User-Friendly Guide to Shock Art

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:40:00 +0000

(Click to enlarge Myra by Marcus Harvey.
Harvey's large-scale portrait of a well-known child molester
was constructed from images of children's hands dipped in paint.)

by LES PATERSON

About 30,000 years ago, some vagabonds, living in a cave, invented art. For around the next 29,800 years, that invention happily served the needs of priests and kings and nobody was ever offended by the stuff. Sadly, by the 19th century, this nice little arrangement broke down. Kings were in increasingly short supply, and demand for icons had dried up. Instead, artists had to market their work to whoever would cough up the dough to buy their work, and they needed a way to get attention. Thus, the fine tradition of offending people with art was born.

FRENCH SHOCK ART

(Click to enlarge Nymphs and Satyr by William-Adolphe Bouguereau)

The start was slow. William-Adolphe Bouguereau caused a stir with prim Victorians by painting sexy group scenes, while Manet got Paris going with a painting of well-dressed men having a picnic with naked chicks.

[Click to enlarge Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)
by Édouard Manet]

In truth, people were not offended but titillated. It would take the rise of Modernism to shock people.

(Click to enlarge Green Line by Henri Matisse)

At the beginning of the 20th century, the most nauseating, laughable, awful thing in the art world was a green stripe on the face of Henri Matisse’s wife. The Parisians who first saw it hated the painting. Derided in the press, it was spat on and attacked with canes. Sadly, after decades of splattered paint and bits of garbage recast as art, you can’t even startle anyone with formal innovation. I think the last person to pull it off was Rauschenberg and his stuffed goat.

(Click to enlarge Monogram by Robert Rauschenberg)

Thankfully, there are new art methods you can use to really piss people off.

BRITISH SHOCK ART

(Click to enlarge Mother and Child, Divided by Damien Hirst)

To make British shock art, you need to be a filthy rich ad executive or maybe a worn-out rock star with deep pockets. Start by buying up all sorts of outrageous art: A carefully sliced cow or fingerpainted portraits of child molesters…it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you tell the “journalists” down on Fleet Street about it. They tell everyone how ugly, obscene, disgusting and icky it is. A big fuss ensues. Fleet Street sells copy, and you’ve made shock art.

AMERICAN SHOCK ART

[Click to enlarge: (left) Piss Christ by Andres Serrano;
(right) The Holy Virgin Mary by British artist Chris Ofili]

What is that you say? You are not a rich, wrinkled rock star and you don’t have buckets of cash? No problem. Just follow this simple formula for American shock art:

Always remember, it is a better shock if you make it with government money.

CANADIAN SHOCK ART

(Click to enlarge Sniffy the Rat by Rick Gibson)

And finally, to make Canadian shock art, three simple words: KILL YOUR PET.

An object lesson in the Canadian style and the dangers of shock art in general can be seen in a piece by conceptual artist Rick Gibson. Way back in 1990, Gibson planned to squash his pet rat, Sniffy, under a 50-pound brick on the steps of the Vancouver Library. On the day of the performance, activists stole the brick. Furthermore, a large hostile crowd gathered before the scheduled performance and nearly kicked the shock out of Gibson.

Both Sniffy and the artist escaped — scared, but unharmed.

So be careful when creating shock art and remember: There is more than one way to skin a cat.

Les Paterson is a Toronto artist and funster who works in neo-pomo and post-mumbo-jumbo traditions. Please visit his Web site at LesPaterson.com.

The Positively Revolting Art of JORIAL

noreply@blogger.com (KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:02:00 +0000

[ Click to enlarge: HIVOGUE — Ofra Haza by JORIAL ]

It's a myth that all art — and artists, for that matter — are inherently part of the counterculture. I was a pre-teen when I came to that realization, watching Teenage Head and Lydia Lunch on early episodes of the New Music, circa JD Roberts and Jeanne Becker. Everything then was very punk rock, the creativity technically unpolished, not yet caught up in the plastic techie factory of the mainstream. Those of us who were coming of age back then were already stumbling through the anxiety of hormones raging wildly when the AIDS epidemic made its way across the newscasts of the early '80s. By the '90s, many of us had been touched by the loss of a friend with full-blown AIDS; myself, I had entered into a scene of anarchists, queer Black feminists, conceptual artists and AIDS activists — all of which had a great affect on me. JORIAL's HIV/AIDS propaganda posters stir up the feelings, memories and activist energy from that '80s/early '90s era. Celebrities found on his HIVOGUE series take me back to club nights, house raves on Charlotte, and remind me of cultural references I had placed behind me, packed up with my torn fishnets, fake lashes and construction boots. Although his choice of artistic format is not new — artists like Iké Udé and General Idea have also successfully used the magazine cover as a platform to subvert — JORIAL's approach definitely is.

[ Click to enlarge: (left) HIVOGUE — Willi Ninja and
(right) HIVOGUE — Anthony Perkins by JORIAL ]

KAREN MIRANDA AUGUSTINE: What prompted the idea to spoof Vogue magazine covers as a way to discuss the stigma of HIV+ status?

JORIAL: It was born from developing the HIV awareness/prevention policies for PozPlanet.com — a "sexy" HIV-centred, queer dating/chat/hookup site we're launching soon. Theoretically, our central objective is to offer a free social-networking platform that guarantees freedom from HIV social stigma, hysteria and discrimination, plus racism, transphobia, etc. The term "HIV negative," and the ridiculous notion of ongoing HIV- status as some sort of character or personality trait, is the core root of the mass ignorance and miseducation that is advancing the global pandemic. It's an issue that mainstream AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) — for example, ACT (AIDS Committee of Toronto), BlackCAP (Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention), etc. — have failed to address both on-line and off. Quite simply, if we expect the inconvenient truths about the volatile nature of seroconversion and HIV infection to ever sink into the minds of sexually active adults and the general population, the term needs to go out of style, out of fashion, out of use and effectively abolished from social acceptability. It should be sent to the same vernacular boneyard as the N-word. It really is that problematic and deadly a term.

The first thing that pops into your head when thinking about fashion is Vogue magazine and, for whatever reason, they still decide what's in and what's out, what's haute and what's not. I unconsciously apply wordplay and a queer fanzine aesthetic to everything I do, so once I started thinking about it, HIVOGUE wasn't too much of a stretch for my one track mind to conceive.

[ Click to enlarge: Peeple Magazine — Everyting Well-Boonoonoonous by JORIAL ]

KMA: Is there a difference to how positive HIV status is stigmatized in the LGBT community from the straight community?

JORIAL: Let me put it this way: If you asked me that question on the airport tarmac, I'd drop to my knees, kiss the concrete and say, "Thank God, I'm not straight!" But to really speak about stigma, I think that regardless of race and class, it becomes much more of a question of gender than sexual orientation. An unholy alliance of mainstream AIDS service organizations and the pharmaceutical industry has done a remarkable job of divide and conquer, herding us like cattle into easily identifiable departments and target markets from which to manage us like product on a sales floor.

[ Click to enlarge: Don't Judge, Judy! by JORIAL ]

Positive men can't disclose because to do so threatens our social status, job security and flops the show for getting our groove on. For women and trans folks it's not only that but a massive personal safety issue. We all know women aren't even safe in their own homes sleeping much less having the audacity to step out onto the street in public during broad daylight, no matter who they are or where they're living on this planet. Add being HIV+ into the mix and the danger and threat to your personal safety and quality of life quadruples. Disclosure is a luxury that women simply can't afford, and that's criminal.

[ Click to enlarge: (left) HIVOGUE — Sharon Redd

and (right) HIVOGUE — Gia Carangi by JORIAL ]

The pandemic is often described as a holocaust, however it's not just a body count that we can draw parallels from. For example, in a "traditional" family unit where one or both of the parents are positive, most must hide all evidence of their status from their own children, their teachers, neighbours, co-workers, friends, and even other family members in the interest of their children's personal safety. No one should have to live life hiding their identity for survival in that manner, especially within their own home.

[ Click to enlarge: HIVOGUE — Nkosi Johnson by JORIAL ]

KMA: The more openly queer celebrities you reference are easily identifiable: '80s supermodel Gia, dancer Alvin Ailey, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, singer Freddie Mercury, for example. Then there are the covers with straight celebrities, some who were not as publicly known to have died from AIDS-related complications like singer Ofra Haza (compared to the more publicly known cases like those of performers Fela Kuti and Eazy-E). And more recently, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Your HIVOGUE series is so intriguing: part tribute, part role model-provider for those who are in need of someone to identify with. Why, as an artist, is it important for you to give visibility to those who live with HIV or who have succumbed to AIDS-related health problems. Why do you see the disclosure of one's "positive status" of great importance in the public sphere?

[ Click to enlarge: HIVOGUE — Héctor Lavoe by JORIAL ]

JORIAL: It's important because stigma is so overwhelming that very few positive people are in the position to be open and "out" about it. With the notable living exceptions of Magic Johnson — and a few lesser-known celebrities such as Andy Bell (Erasure) and Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes To Hollywood) — we never find out who our role models are until after they're dead. Generally speaking, the only people who can be public about their HIV status are hardcore activists and long-term survivors who have become so desensitized to stigma they just don't care anymore.

When speaking of HIV, we often talk about the period of time the virus can lay dormant. On-line, there's something I like to describe as seroconversion "RT" (real-time). That's the period of time from seroconverting to the point where you have the confidence and integrity to post a clear face pic on 3P (photo personal profiles) and list your status as HIV positive. For many that can be several years, and for most it never happens. On Facebook, I know of two — count 'em: TWO! — HIV+ people who are completely and totally out about it, and trust me, I know of puh-lenty of HIV+ people. For that reason, local activist Brian Finch and French politician Jean-Luc Romero are huge inspirations, "positive" role models and "status" symbols to me.

[ Click to enlarge: The Queers Online are Positively Revolting by JORIAL ]

For me personally, my experience has been a little ass-backwards. I had no problem [being out about my status] on Facebook, but on gay Web sites, such as Adam4Adam.com or Manhunt.net, it's only very recently that I've successfully seroconverted RT. I guess it depends what community you feel most anchored in. I've been aggressively unholy-terrorizing straights in the interest of queerness since the mid-'80s with the zines Bimbox and S.C.A.B. (Society for the Complete Annihilation of Breeding), so I had absolutely no qualms about jumping right in your Facebook.

KMA: In the late '80s/early '90s there was passing concern over the real incubation period of HIV and whether or not an HIV test could ever truly be read as accurate. Many dismiss this as an issue, so the message that emerges from your propaganda poster HIVOGUE — It's All the Rage in Pandemic is an especially urgent, educational one, particularly within the context of sex want ads — on-line or in print. Can you further discuss these ideas and one's false sense of security upon receiving an HIV-negative test result?

[ Click to enlarge: HIVOGUE — It's All the Rage in Pandemic by JORIAL ]

JORIAL: With regard to HIV or any STD awareness/prevention issue, I feel accurate facts are of the utmost importance. The volatile nature of seroconversion alone dictates that only a blood sample can be HIV-negative and, because our bodies are living, constantly changing things, a "negative" result for anything our blood is screened or tested for — whether HIV, cancer, diabetes, bird flu, rock-'n'-roll boogie, or pneumonia — is essentially expired information upon receipt. This applies to all sexually active adults, including those who claim to practice safer sex 100% of the time, as latex condoms are not 100% effective. 40-85% of HIV+ people don't know they're infected, and most people wouldn't know what safer sex was if it bit them in the....!

Unless they invent a device that can be jammed into our veins 24/7, constantly monitoring and screening HIV status, no one has the right to claim HIV-negative status. Those who do are knowingly — or unknowingly — creating a deadly, sero-supremist false sense of security for both themselves and others, passively fostering HIV social stigma, hysteria and discrimination and recklessly advancing the global pandemic. With 25 million dead, 46 million currently infected, and 5,700 deaths per day from HIV/AIDS in 2007, perpetuating the notion of HIV-negative status is to engage in reckless, high-risk behaviour that reinforces systematic misinformation so deadly and destructive that we should recoil in horror at utterance of the term.

[ Click to enlarge: Soaking in It (Self-Portrait) by JORIAL ]

Institutionalized homo/queer/transphobia, hetero/sexism, misogyny and racism forces sexually-active adults into multiple closets. And, whether they like it or not, whatever's happening on the nastiest queer "barebacking" site directly impacts the "innocent," God-fearing heterosexuals navigating the most wholesome, arranged matrimony sites imaginable. No matter how the latter group stubbornly polices, condemns, and criminalizes the lifestyles of the former, HIV will continue to spread back and forth between populations. Open dialogue, harm reduction and realistic sex education really is so important if we're serious about stopping HIV/AIDS. We've already seen the glorious results of 25 years of throwing bourgeois tea parties, staging misogynist fashion shows and handing out condoms to barebackers at bathhouses; maybe it's time for fresh tactics like pointing out the glaringly obvious truth and #1 misconception about HIV!

[ Click to enlarge: Meet Mr. Clean by JORIAL ]

KMA: My introduction to your work was through your pastel drawings, which reminded me so much of the late Jerome Caja's artwork. Both of your works have, at times, overt religious and/or sexual overtones that speak bluntly, yet with much humour, to issues of sex, abuse, gender, and desire. As an HIV+ gay drag queen and artist, Caja especially had so many interesting pieces where he cross-identified with Jesus and la Virgen de Guadeloupe (two classic martyrs), using their images to explore his feelings around mortality, difference, persecution and reverence. When I look at your pastel illustrations, I can see that there is a similar dialogue that is also going on. Both you and Caja poke fun at the seriousness of religion's confines and speak to the "darker" experiences of life. Talk to us about some of the themes that dominate these drawings.

JORIAL: I think most artists and writers in personal struggle with their own mortality, whether it's HIV, cancer, other chronic illness, disability, injury, or advanced age. We tend to entomb ourselves in subject and content that explores memory, closure, cause and effect, or whatever we feel encapsulates, justifies or explains our journey. I experienced a severe creative block that lasted ten years following a rather traumatic period of my life, and visual artwork, writing or producing anything remotely creative, was only revived as the result of group art therapy offered at the AIDS Committee of Toronto and participation in an individual art therapy study at Mount Sinai Hospital.

After such a long period of artistic silence, a passionate response to HIV-related depression, stemming from the overwhelming social stigma that's rampant throughout the gay community, has been a central theme outpoured in most, if not all, of my stuff since 2005. Expressing that has been like coming out of a closet all over again — a psychological and personal rollercoaster, which is as equally exhilarating, tedious, rewarding and terrifying as embracing queerness the first time around.

[ Click to enlarge:
Class, Race and Gender Privilege at 399 Church Street by JORIAL ]

The obstacles to "positive" identity are very familiar and identifiable (authority, religion, family, heterosexism, etc.), and I think for many HIV+ queer/trans people, fatigue from years of battling morons, jackasses and hypocrites the first time around certainly impedes our enthusiasm to relive the same tired old war, especially when through silence, complacency, incompetence and inaction our so called gay "community" has joined their ranks! While she's generally not known for her sarcasm, it's kinda brutal that gay icon Dionne Warwick sings "Déjà vu" and "That's What Friends Are For."

[ Click to enlarge: Vaginal Davis by JORIAL ]

Because stigma is so isolating, much "viral culture" output from HIV+ artists appears self-absorbed and I guess my own is no different. I also think that with exceptions like ACT UP, AIDS Action Now, Diseased Pariah News, etc., self-absorption/obsession/condemnation historically explains why, when left to our own devices in groups, the HIV+ haven't been able to organize our way out of a paper bag. It's sort of impossible to express universal themes as each person's experience of HIV is unique, with religious backlashing and condemnation perhaps the one interchangeable specter to which we can all relate.

[ Click to enlarge: (left) Detail from Painted Jesus Plaque* by Jerome Caja,
and (right) The Prophet Muhammad for MAC Viva Glam by JORIAL ]

Ironically, as a character in the 1990 Gabrielle Micallef and Debbie Douglas film anOTHER Love Story notes, "AIDS ain't fussy." That statement is so true and it's something we'll acknowledge on an individual basis, yet the universal global response to HIV in providing treatment, delivering services or even just fundraising has been to judge, divide, conquer and compartmentalize the HIV+ into easily identifiable groups of "us" and "them," innocent and guilty, those deserving of compassion and those deserving scorn. Hyper-conservativity, hysteria, selfishness and disunity is no way to fight a virus, and I certainly try to challenge that mindset with the spiritually interchangeable pieces Jesus Is My Bitch and The Prophet Muhammad for MAC Viva Glam.

KMA: I heard that you're involved in a very interesting film project that stars ex-Fifth Column bandmate, Caroline Azar. Could you tell us a bit more about this project?

JORIAL: Well it's kind of a fully-clothed queer re-make of Nude On The Moon, the 1961 softcore porn/nudist camp epic by Doris Wishman, who with over 30 feature films to her credit is the most prolific female director of the 20th century. Our version is called Project 36-C and stars Bitch Nation's Jena von Brucker and G.B. Jones as the astronauts and Caroline Azar in an absolutely hilarious dual-role as "Doris Manwish," their frumpy administrative assistant and "the All-Time Queen Of The Moon!" We filmed the movie way back in 1992/1993 during the height of Toronto's queercore renaissance, a period when we also started publishing Double Bill, the so-called anti-fanzine/"hate" zine strategically designed to advance the character assassination of (then) wife-killer and pedophile on-the-loose William S. Burroughs, while offering up as an alternative William Conrad (star of the TV show Cannon in the 70s and Jake and the Fatman in the 80s/90s) to the queer masses, so desperate and starved for a male role model named Bill to worship, idolize and adore.

[ Click to enlarge: Project 36-C film poster by JORIAL ]

Much of Project 36-C was shot during the same period and at many of the same locales as G.B. Jones's movie The Lollipop Generation, features three of the same principle actors, and pays loving tribute to the techniques and styles of both Jones and Wishman. As such, it was filmed without sound, the dialogue and music to be added in later.

In 1994 the movie was half-finished when circumstance put it on a back burner, and then in 1995, A Different Booklist happened. As you recall, in 1998 when I...um..."left" A Different Booklist, there wasn't much time to pack and the three canisters of film that were Project 36-C were misplaced at that time and presumed lost for nearly ten years. Meanwhile, G.B. Jones completed The Lollipop Generation, which premiered this past April as the gala feature opening the 2008 Images Festival in Toronto. The "lost" Project 36-C footage was unexpectedly recovered about a year ago in 2007, so after meeting with G.B. Jones a couple of weeks after her premiere, we decided we really should finish the movie as time travel is an element of the plotline anyway. Plus, there's just too many obscure celebrity cameos (Kevin Killian, Sadie Benning, Rachel Pepper, Mark Ewert, Jeffrey Kennedy, Johnny Ray Huston, Davey Houle, Mike Thompson, Lisa Freeman, etc.) to justify letting it rot in someone's closet!

Thanks to G.B. Jones' renewed involvement and guidance, I'm very excited to be completing what I'm sure will be my first and last, one and only, foray into moviemaking!

JORIAL will be participating in Urbanity Humanity, a group exhibition for 2008 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Saturday, October 4th at Beaver Hall Gallery, where he will be showing works from his HIVOGUE series. To view more of JORIAL's work, please visit his on-line galleries at MyArtSpace.com or MySpace.com. His social networking site, PozPlanet.com is currently in development and will be launched in 2009.

IMAGES: Copyright of JORIAL / *Copyright of the Estate of Jerome Caja. JORIAL's images are reprinted with his permission.