My work ‘The Privilege of Living Past 29’ is about the surprise of finding gratitude during a genocide.
I didn’t have Palestinian friends or family prior to the last 18 months, but what is happening now answers the age-old question of ‘what would I have been doing during the holocaust if I’d been alive then?’. The answer, for me, is being a community and wrapping around the directly affected families living in Otepoti, hearing their stories, participating in fundraisers, listening and observing and witnessing this historical event in solidarity. It seems impossible for this experience to not make its way into my art.
Referencing pop art I am using identical mass-manufactured silicone ice-block moulds but instead of casting them in all the same material, I am using 29 different materials. This can be seen as a critique on consumerism and capitalism and it can also be seen as my gratitude toward having access to 29 unique materials to make art out of in the span of four weeks. The opportunities I am afforded simply by being accidentally born in a certain country is mind-blowing. It’s not something I feel an inherent guilt about, but I do feel a responsibility to make the most of my situation and do what good I am capable of in my own small way. This is a large driving force in my parenting, art and ethics in all facets of life.
The Privilege Of… uses materials I’ve never worked with before such as lipstick, dryer lint, plastic coins and paper mache clay. While the individual slices are simple and rudimentary I am hopeful that as a finished piece they will look striking together. Some of the materials are very relevant to the subject matter – food, water, lead, grass, concrete, blood – others less so. The point is more about opportunity and gratitude than materiality. Some of the slices lasted as briefly as 10 minutes before melting, others disintegrated or broke down within a few days, a handful of them will outlive me. Below is the full ‘ingredient’ list for the work.
The layout is rows of multiples of five, in alphabetical order. I was diagnosed with clinical obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child, but it impacts my daily life significantly less these days, sometimes making itself known in little ways in my art it turns out. The last piece (piece 30) is missing, yet to come, speaking to possibilities and opportunities of the future – and more literally, my birthday at the end of the year.
“The watermelon is perhaps the most iconic fruit to represent Palestine. Grown from Jenin to Gaza, the fruit shares the same colours as the Palestinian flag – red, green, white and black – so it is used to protest against Israel’s suppression of Palestinian flags and identity” – https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/11/20/palestine-symbols-keffiyeh-olive-branch-watermelon
I wanted to avoid graphic depiction of the horrors that are unfolding so have opted to use the inoffensive iceblock-mould watermelon shape to symbolise the meaning behind this piece. “While avoiding graphic description of the trauma and sadness of their situation, Shmuel Dresner makes references to destruction and violence through the torn and burnt papers from which he constructs the image” resonated with me while researching artists that have made work in direct response to the atrocities of WWII and surrounding crimes against humanity. A lot of my work so far has been what I call gentle depictions of violence and I doubt that will change any time soon.
I have loved the discussions I’ve been having with my lecturers about how I could expand upon this piece in the future, and about the possibility of doing it again entirely using food in response to the humanitarian crisis and famine occurring as a part of the genocide. I may need to take some time before I make art about Palestine again as I’m very wary of typecasting myself or being seen as white-saviour performative – it’s a weird line to toe. The Dunedin School of Art staff have been absolutely wonderful in supporting work made about difficult subject matter.
I have also realised this piece is about the school friends I have already outlived that didn’t make it to 29.
This work in its’ entirety or as individual pieces may be available for purchase with proceeds to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and/or other registered humanitarian organisations, please get in touch with me to discuss this at otepotirenaissance@gmail.com
