ECHOES: Women Inspired by Nature

Join me for one of two openings at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, April 7 and May 5, 6–10 pm. I am showing two artist’s books, The Los Angeles: River Inside a River and Frogskin. Exhibition details are below.

“ECHOES: Women Inspired by Nature”
an exhibition of 21 women artists whose work focuses on the natural environment
Co-Curated by Betty Ann Brown and Linda Vallejo

Full Color Catalog
with essay written by Dr. Betty Ann Brown and
designed by Dr. Paula DiMarco, Roadwork Design

Exhibition Dates: April 6, 2007 to May 20, 2007
Opening Receptions: April 7 and May 5, 6–10 pm
Where: Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), 117 North Sycamore, Santa Ana, CA 92701, 714.667.1517, [email protected]. Open Thursday and Sunday: 12 PM to 5 PM, Friday and Saturday: 12 PM to 9 PM

“Echoes: Women Inspired by Nature” will be presented at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) from April 5 through May 20, 2007. Curated by art historian Betty Ann Brown and visual artist Linda Vallejo, the exhibition will highlight the work of 21 women artists who focus on the natural environment. In artwork that ranges from traditional easel painting, to the newer media of photography and installation, to the very Postmodern use of non-art materials such as Gummy Bear candies, these artists call out attention to the beauty and wonder of the natural world, and to humanity’s deep and abiding connection with it. They also address issues such as pollution, over-consumption of resources, scientific atrocities and animal abuse.

We don’t need to have seen Al Gore’s compelling documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, to become aware of the devastating environmental changes in recent years. On an almost daily basis, television newscasters report on the destructive results of toxic spills, raging fires, rising pollution, or the horrific storms exacerbated by climate changes. Although artists are neither politicians (no matter how politically engaged), nor environmental scientists (no matter how intrigued by the vicissitudes of scientific inquiry), they can and do respond to the state of the natural world around them. In creating new and intriguing images of nature, artists can compel us to view our natural environment with fresh eyes. As Rachel Carson has noted, “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

“ECHOES” ARTISTS

The “Echoes” artists listen to nature and tell of the stories they have heard. Some of the stories glory in nature’s beauty and power. Others bemoan our ongoing abuse of nature. But all of them acknowledge our oneness with nature and our desperate need to respect and love her.
The artists respond to nature in three elegantly interconnected ways. They create art that reveals an awe of nature’s beauty and power. They create art that manifests a feeling of meditative oneness with nature (rather than domination over nature or separation from it.) And they create art that mourns the losses from environmental abuse.

MOURNING THE LOSSES

“Ultimately, it is the earth – which has supported us and loved us and caressed us –that we must now stand up for, for she is under the gravest danger ever in the history of man.” Chief Eddie Benton Banai, Grand Chief of the Three Fires Society

• Kim ABELES presents a potent testimony to governmental disdain about pollution
• Rabyn BLAKE creates fragile boats evoking a nostalgic sense of loss
• Yaya CHOU asks “Why are these artificially flavored and colored products so widely present and persistent?” with her Gummy Bear sculpture
• Cheryl Marie DULLABAUN asks what we have done to the paradise of nature
• Samantha FIELDS combines the tradition of landscape painting with contemporary environmental concern
• Linda FROST explores the abuses of genetic research and manipulation.
• Cheri GAULKE shares the artist’s concern about the loss of numerous frog species
• Holly TEMPO is concerned about the accelerating destruction of the tropical rain forests.

IN AWE OF NATURE’S BEAUTY & POWER

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” Albert Einstein, German physicist

• Patsy COX uses the intense, saturated colors to fill up, even overwhelm, her installation space of clumping cactus
• Astrid PRESTON creates riveting images of trees and flowers that are so finely crafted they astonish the viewer
• Susan SILTON returns birds to the gorgeous rush of nature’s cycles
• Linda VALLEJO participates Native American ceremony and is keenly aware of the sanctity of nature
• Miriam WOSK presents dense, rich, and elaborate views of the ocean depths
• Takako YAMAGUCHI recalls the decorative elegance of Japanese scrolls and screens

MEDITATIVE ONENESS WITH NATURE

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” William Shakespeare, English dramatist

• Judith F. BACA depicts the ancestors united with the rocks and hills and caves
• H. Barbara CUTLER assembles nature’s detritus and recycles it into sartorial statements about our connection to the constantly regenerative powers of nature
• Cheryl EKSTROM senses the continued beauty in the world, of our oneness with natural cycles, and our need to press on even in grief
• Suvan GEER focuses on the body’s time and the cycles of nature
• Pamela GRAU TWENA is troubled by humanity’s ongoing disregard for nature and wonders what nature may do in response
• Akiko JACKSON evokes poetic allusion through forms sharing physical and functional affinities
• Lezley SAAR combines found black and white photographs with whimsical yet sophisticated drawings focused on natural forms

CONTACT: Pamela Grau Twena, Telephone: 714.667.1517 Email: [email protected]

Filipino WWII Veterans Memorial


Click here to see more photos of the Filipino WWII Veterans Memorial

Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial
Lake Street Park, Historic Filipinotown,
227 N. Lake Street, Los Angeles, CA
90057
Designed by Cheri Gaulke, Artist
Commissioned by L.A. City Council District 13, Eric Garcetti, Councilmember
Unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 2006

Project Description The memorial honors the struggles, victories and patriotism of the Filipino World War II veterans. Five large black granite monoliths (5-7’ tall x 3-4’ wide) rise from the ground and two granite benches (1.5’ tall x 2-5’ wide) allow viewers to sit in meditation before them. Etched onto the face of the monoliths are photographs and text that tell the story including: the historical relationship between the United States and the Philippines, the invasion of the Philippines by Japan, the brave defense and battles of WWII, the surrender and horrific Bataan Death March and prisoner of war camps, General MacArthur’s return to the Philippines, the independence of the Philippines resulting in the loss of veterans’ benefits, and the ongoing struggle to receive recognition by the US government.
Materials In the space between the second and third monolith rises a vertical sheet of dichroic glass that shifts in color from warm copper to cool blues as the viewer moves in front of it. The shimmering dichroic glass serves as a contemporary eternal flame. The materials are both traditional (exquisite black granite with engraved text) and contemporary (dichroic glass and etched photographs on granite). The front and back surfaces of the black granite are highly polished and the top and sides are a natural broken surface. The black granite speaks to the strength and substance of the story; the broken edges give an earthy quality befitting a memorial; the highly polished surface reflects the viewer calling them to involve themselves in the story. The first four monoliths recount the war experience and the fifth tells the story of the quest for benefits. The space between the fourth and fifth monolith forms a V, subtly representative of veteran, valor and victory. The two granite benches have the word “valor” etched in English and Tagalog.
Placement The monoliths are arranged on a slope between the street and the recreation center at Lake Street Park in the Historic Filipinotown section of Los Angeles. The street side of the memorial has the word “valor” etched quite large, a map of the Philippines, and a quote from a survivor of the Bataan Death March which states, “Bataan was not our last battlefield. We are still fighting for equity.” At the recreation center side, viewers can walk towards the monoliths and read the story, or stop and sit on the benches and contemplate history. The intention of the memorial design is to be a place where the veterans themselves can tell their stories, as well as a place that teaches future generations about these important historic events.

Cheri Gaulke, Artist

Filipino WWII Veterans Memorial Dedication

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Dedication speech by artist Cheri Gaulke at the unveiling of the Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial that she designed, Veterans Day, Saturday, November 11, 2006, Lake Street Park, Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles, California

When I was growing up, my dad was a war history buff and family vacations often included visiting battlefields and war monuments. Mostly I hated it, angry about what I thought was a glorification of violence. In school, history was one of my least favorite subjects because it seemed to focus almost solely on war. I am perhaps not the most likely candidate to design a war memorial. I’m not even Filipino. But I love a challenge! And I am grateful to City Council President Eric Garcetti (CD13) for giving me that challenge.

I was asked to design this Filipino World War II Veterans Memorial almost three years ago. When art consultant Lesley Elwood told me the veterans’ story, I was intrigued. Then Joseph Bernardo from Eric Garcetti’s office took me to the Filipino American Services Group to meet two veterans. I came into their tiny office with maps and photos on the walls. They were in the 80s and full of passion as they told me their stories and I strained to understand their words and the horrors of what they were describing. These men brought their war experience alive for me and I was moved. It has been said that as a people we are doomed to repeat history if we do not truly understand our past.

These men were once young and full of optimism and hope. They willingly stepped forward to serve our country. Thousands of them faced horrific torture, thousands did not survive. Civilian men and women were deeply affected too. They all have memories that they live with every day.

No longer young, these same men and women are still full of optimism and hope that we as a people and government will give them the respect, honor and benefits that they were promised and so deserve. I have been honored to tell their story and to use my skills as an artist to draw attention to their plight.

On this historic day, let us all understand history and not be doomed to repeat it. Let us honor their valor by making sure that injustice and unfair treatment of our veterans will never happen again.