Home Here
"Home Here" is an art exhibition at NJCU. It is the concept that a home can be anything, it can be a place, a thing or a person. Each of these artists express their own interpretation of what Home is. It is curated by Lucy Rovetto. It shows artwork by artists like Laia Cabrera, Nicole DeMaio, Isabelle Duverger, Jaz Graf, Katelyn Halpern, Jin Jung, Pat Lay, Tina Maneca, Cheryl R. Riley, Jennifer Roberts, and also shows tribute to Ward Mont, some of her paintings were shown in the exhibition. She played an important role in NJCU and its history. Like Dr. Maura Reilly wrote, "It's a White Male thing" in her essay called "Toward Curatorial Activism." This exhibition is an all-women show of different ethnicities, which is very important because the art industry has always been ruled by white men.
One of the art pieces that caught my attention was "Qualia — You Matter to Me" by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger. It is more than a video art installation, it is a visual poem from humans to nature. The reason why I chose this piece is because, ever since I saw it, I thought it was beautiful, it is a way to show the need that humans have to find connections with nature, ourselves and humanity. This piece is divided into five segments: "Qualia," "You," "Matter," "To," "Me,". Every single one can be considered in the chapters to find a connection. This art piece challenges something that, nowadays, is very normalized; emotional loneliness or isolation. I find this quote to be very relevant to this piece. Duncombe states, "We are often motivated more by emotional attachments to issues, perspectives, and politicians than by reasoned political positions"(The Art of Activism). Over all, this piece reminds us that it is human to want connection, and we can seek it socially, spiritually and environmentally. It makes the viewers be more empathetic towards everyone's needs, to find a connection with something, someone, or somewhere.
The other that caught my attention was "Family Album Series" by Jennifer Roberts. I found that very interesting concept. I can relate to Jennifer. My mother lost a lot of photographs from my childhood. I believe that they were also sold in a flea market in Mexico; it let me wonder, could I find my family pictures the same way Jennifer did? Although she was not able to find her pictures, is there a chance for me to find them? I found her installation probably the same way it did to her, very personal. I might not be the only one that had to go through this, but I loved the way she spoke not only about her experience of losing something so valuable, a photograph, which may not be a lot for some, but for others it brings joy, memories and hope. It shows that home can be a simple thing, a photograph.
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