Guatemala

2010 Biennial of the Americas
July - August 2010
Gallery 420: 420 Downing Street - Denver

overview

Starting with stone lithographs of lush forest, these mixed media works on paper were truck-tracked with fresh tar, then torn into small squares. They serve as a foundation that speaks to the situation imposed on the Maya: pushed off their land and treated like slaves on plantation style agricultural production facilities owned by multinational corporations. They fill US demands for cheap commodities which comes at a severe cost to both people and the environment. The texture of tar is an echo of the continuing destructive influence of these corporations. Tar is made from oil which also makes up the petrochemicals used in the style of agriculture that is decimating the environment.

Somehow, Mayan culture is not decimated. They maintain an incredible dedication to tradition, working in harmony with the environment. Ancient customs are manifested through the colorful and intricate weavings which are worn with pride. These portraits are of Mayan women from the highlands market in Chichicastenango. Exploring a wide range of human emotion from being weary and hurt to looking forward with hope, the vignettes are intended to explore the breadth and range of emotional textures in this community.

right: espera - tar, sharpie, watercolor & pencil over torn lithograph

Texas National

Invited by Judy Pfaff
April 10 - May 23, 2010

The Cole Art Center
329 East Main Street, Nacogdoches, TX

right: Bleed - Oil & Sharpie on shotgunned plywood

Art & Agriculture

Columbia Center for the Arts
Hood River, OR
May 7-30

right: Rain - Oil Refinery, Commerce City - watercolor, oil & conte on unstretched canvas

Security means simply, the provision of safety. Se-curity is related to the oldest meaning of curate: to care for souls. Today the business of security is a global and corporate phenomenon. The primary agenda is the production of fear; the ideal consumer is immobilized by dread. Security, the exhibition, addresses this pivot between asylum and alarm. How we define security for our communities and the world, will determine how we get there and where we arrive.

Vrnda - mother of a Combat Medic in Iraq

ROOT DIVISION
3175 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Right: Vrnda, Mother of a Combat Medic stationed in Iraq - detail: pencil, blood, shotgunned collage & raw silk collage that has been burnt by coals. 2008

Release

Inspired by releasing baby sea turtles in Guatemala, a series of paintings reflecting the life cycle and environmental threats to turtles are currently being developed.

Join the Scurry
Help me support the hatching and release of endangered sea turtles through ARCAS Guatemala

Reap
The Environmental Unsustainability of the
American Food Machine

Exhibition Overview

Interview with Andrew Silvertein,
Universtiy of South Florida

Bitter but beautiful Harvest
Lee Lee's stark style captures anger and elegance among environmental degradation.
by Lennie Bennett, St Petersburg Times

C Emerson Fine Arts, St Petersburg FL - 10-11.2009

right: Rain - Oil Refinery, detail - 2009

CALYX

Publication in Vol. 25, no. 1, Winter 2009 issue of CALYX, A Journal of Art & Literature by Women

- Collapsed Home in Vares, Bosnia (imaged right)
- Angkor Shrine, Cambodia
- Confined Shrine, Myanmar

Myanmar

Depicting Buddhist shrines in Myanmar which are kept locked in steel cages as a reflection of the severity of the current regime.

Series of multi media works on paper developed at the Ragdale Foundation, 2.08

confined shrine

right: Myanmar - confined shrine - xerograph & watercolor on collage, 2008