“2020 Reframed” has been accepted into the MAH’s upcoming exhibit.

Exhibit: In These Uncertain Times
at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH)
beginning on January 15, 2021

2020 is no ordinary year… filled with layers of challenges and unlike any we’ve experienced. Early in the year, I started to notice an unusual presence of RE-WORDS showing up in my life and in the world around me. I am referring to an abundance of words beginning with the letters RE. (Retreat, rediscover, recreate, reinvent, recover...) It’s been a year in which we’ve all had reasons to RE-vise our plans, RE-assess our priorities, and RE-define our lives. We have waited for businesses to RE-open and wondered if and when we might RE-turn to “normal.”

Back in May, I created a RE-WORDS concertina sketchbook, an eight page book built to highlight these words. Once it was completed, I felt a strong need to continue working on this project, but in a larger format. So I printed my collection of re-words in different fonts and sizes and began constructing a painting. “2020 Reframed” is loaded with words appearing on layers and strips of raw canvas. The prepared layers have been stitched together and are sewn onto a 24” x 24” stretched canvas. The loose threads and textures further represent a time in which our personal and societal threads have been laid bare.

Here are some details of the completed painting:

AND not long after the completion of this painting, a new word emerged: RE-population. It’s used when fire evacuees are returned to their homes. (Luckier than many, we are very thankful to have had a home to return to.)