Avivo ArtWorks continues to support my art life in Minneapolis and is in full swing, albeit primarily on zoom at this point due to the covid-19 pandemic. It was in the backdrop of a 6 week virtual drawing club with Avivo (November ’20 - January ’21) that I was able to begin to metabolize the events that occurred in the summer of 2020 through my art.
Living at the halfway point between the site of George Floyd’s killing and the burning of the 3rd Precinct police station, I share my process in creating 2 pieces of art that utilize materials from these events in order to create personal meaning.
Key concepts for me in the 2 pieces I talk about in this 15 minute artist interview video:
--utilizing the broken to create something new and different (broken window glass from the East Lake Library)
--ashes and erasure (ash from the uprising fires). A frequent message I heard growing up was, "Martha you are smart--use your brain to erase that (painful event) from your mind." I have spent a lifetime trying to unlearn that message and to allow reality in.
