The controversy which censorship attracts ultimately raises the question of the artist’s role in society, and the idea that they might have social responsibility. Censorship opens up much broader questions about the role of art as truth, and the problematic implications of forcibly constrained expression...That art is still capable of provoking political unrest, violent debate, and protest is an attestation of its value and power. It is also an admission of its complexity; inextricably linked to notions of liberty, truth and justice, art seems set to continue to attract the attention of those who would prefer it to be silenced.
Paris, 26 September 2013, Art Media Agency (AMA).
Art is not just about pretty pictures or commercial work to have in our living rooms and Boardrooms. Visual images, poetry and literature are a powerful tool for communicating emotion and social justice issues and breaking societal taboos and restrictions. Art is also a powerful way to communicate the need for empathy.
Some of the most powerful pictures, sculptures, and images are those which depict hardship, poverty, pain, violence, fear and anger. Many of the strongest or most politically controversial visual pieces have been created by artists such as Kathe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeous, William Blake, Hieronymus Bosch, Ai Weiwei, Michelangelo, Brett Bailey, Otto Dix, Salvador Dali, Kamal Al-Labwani, Vera Donskaya-Khilko, Linda Cunningham, Banksy, and so many others.
Countless other artworks and artists are lost to history because totalitarian governments, or restrictive societies and organizations have destroyed them, or made them disappear. Artists are dangerous when they speak truth - especially when it challenges the powerful who have a vested interest in secrecy and the appearance of normalcy in spite of their actions. Dictatorships severely restrict what artists can paint or write. Many refugees are artists who would be killed should they return to their home countries. Here in Canada, they are still fearful unless they are encouraged to share their memories and pain. Democracies may cut art funding, insist on closure of exhibitions or removal of artworks, and subtler ways to express their disapproval. It is essential that artists continue to speak out through their work.
I have been timid in my approach to subject matter for much of my life, but I find my work becoming bolder as I grow older. It will grow bolder still. I hope that some of my work will challenge how we all perceive the issues of injustice around us. It is a challenge I have issued to myself.
Some of the most powerful pictures, sculptures, and images are those which depict hardship, poverty, pain, violence, fear and anger. Many of the strongest or most politically controversial visual pieces have been created by artists such as Kathe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeous, William Blake, Hieronymus Bosch, Ai Weiwei, Michelangelo, Brett Bailey, Otto Dix, Salvador Dali, Kamal Al-Labwani, Vera Donskaya-Khilko, Linda Cunningham, Banksy, and so many others.
Countless other artworks and artists are lost to history because totalitarian governments, or restrictive societies and organizations have destroyed them, or made them disappear. Artists are dangerous when they speak truth - especially when it challenges the powerful who have a vested interest in secrecy and the appearance of normalcy in spite of their actions. Dictatorships severely restrict what artists can paint or write. Many refugees are artists who would be killed should they return to their home countries. Here in Canada, they are still fearful unless they are encouraged to share their memories and pain. Democracies may cut art funding, insist on closure of exhibitions or removal of artworks, and subtler ways to express their disapproval. It is essential that artists continue to speak out through their work.
I have been timid in my approach to subject matter for much of my life, but I find my work becoming bolder as I grow older. It will grow bolder still. I hope that some of my work will challenge how we all perceive the issues of injustice around us. It is a challenge I have issued to myself.
The Refugee Experience: Images of Suffering
One in every 113 people on Earth has now been driven from their home by persecution, conflict and violence or human rights violations.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -UNHCR
Human Trafficking: A Refugee Issue
from the Beyond Fear & Hope Collective Exhibition, 2017
Mixed Media: Reclaimed & Recycled Materials
Despair, and Detained
from the Beyond Fear & Hope Collective Exhibition, 2016
Mixed Media: Reclaimed & Recycled Materials
These pieces were first shown in Beyond Fear and Hope, 2016
from the Beyond Fear & Hope Collective Exhibition, 2016
Mixed Media: Reclaimed & Recycled Materials
These pieces were first shown in Beyond Fear and Hope, 2016
Other Issues
Ladies of the Night Series:
Ring My Bell
Mixed Media: Reclaimed & Recycled Materials
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Ladies of the night are often seen as the cast-offs or trash discarded at the edge of our civil society. The use of reclaimed materials for this series makes visible that which we prefer to hide.
The series gives a visible structure, a meaning, to the margins - a form of map to help us understand how women lose the choice of paths that the rest of society follows, and end up in this place at the end of our known world, shunned and used. By making the sculptures tactile, we are allowed to touch, to interact with the pieces which depict forbidden territory. Perhaps we then can see with empathy, rather than disgust or titillation, the women & men caught in this cycle at the periphery of sight. Some of this series are amusing, some shocking, all are meant to challenge the viewer. |
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