oil on Arches oil paper, mounted on stretched canvas
30 x 22 x 1.25″
My concept of the seams of a society, as on a garment, refers to being placed at the edge, marginalized, or disenfranchised, but this can also indicate conditions that hold a people together, that bind. Each of my “Seams” works takes the viewer on a cultural journey. I want you to meet a few of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances in places I have had the great fortune to visit or to work. I am excited to show how culture and economics shape people’s lives. I hope you can imagine the lives of the people I try to portray. I want to challenge stereotypes in the figurative and cultural depiction of people. In my current series of paintings, I explore the lives of Africans in Karatu, Tanzania, a rural town where I have lived and worked over several summers as a physician. People who work in or are served by the hospital live with the lingering effects of colonialism. They grapple with political, educational, and economic conditions that make it difficult to advance. I have been painting with oil on paper that I mount on canvas. I utilize my own handmade stamps developed from traditional Tanzanian kitenge cloth to print the backgrounds. My goal is to offer you a moment to slow your mind as you imagine the lives of others and explore with me the “Seams of Societies”.
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