Post 5- Home Here Gallery Exhibition- Deanna Currington

💛Home Here Gallery Exhibition💛

Before looking at the name of the exhibition or reading anything about the works. I wanted to feel out the environment. I felt like I was walking into someone's home. It felt like an abandoned home, to be exact. It gave me a feeling that someone once lived here, but their moments were left behind untouched. I walked around the room, and I felt drawn to Jennifer Roberts work that was tucked in the corner, which I thought was a very comforting place for it. In addition to that, the notebook opened to read notes and reflections written down was beautiful. I wanted to sit and look at every single photo on the wall and feel the energy from each one. The placement gives it a certain intimacy that makes you want to sit and have a moment to yourself.

I connected with this work because I have hundreds of old photos of family, all the way up to my great-great-great-grandmother. I am the keeper of all my family photos. I try to recreate old photos by painting them in large scale so that we can keep them as family heirlooms. Reading how Jennifer lost her family photos and wishing that she could remember that enough to recreate them hurt me, and I am not sure how I would be able to recover from such a loss. This work is an intervention because it can improve family dynamics and invite social change. It shows how fragile, yet important, family, memories, and connections can be, and why we should hold family and friends close if they are important to us.

🠋🠋

Jennifer Roberts 'Family Album Series'

I enjoyed Jin Jung's project because I have seen them around, but I never knew it was art! I respect pieces like these because it shows the public history and how special the land is and what it has been through. Being from Brooklyn, I am hurt every day by how gentrification has taken so much from us. It feels like the connection is lost between the people who were born and raised in New York. I feel lost in my own home at times. I stand and stare at all the businesses that I grew up on go out of business and being bought out. I see the neighborhoods changing and being modernized. The people I grew up with and knew are gone because they can't afford to live here anymore, or they were evicted from their homes. In my opinion, this project shows the strengths of the city. It shows what Jersey City has accomplished, lost, and gained.

🠋🠋

Jin Jung 'WERE HERE' project

 

💗My Artwork💗

This is a lamp design of my great-grandmother's house in Barbados that I created using wood. On the inside of the lamp are photos of my family. (My great-grandmother can be seen through the front door) The front window is old negative that I found from 2001 of me and my family on the beach.

This is a quick collage I made with extra copies of photos I found. I wanted to pay homage to all the things important in my life: family, nature, motherhood, Barbados, and New York City.

Quotes:

                   "Creativity isn't a product, it's a process."

While working to get my BA in art therapy I have literally was thrown into learning so much art so quickly. I enjoy creating art so much that I put a lot of time and effort into the process. When I saw this quote it reminded me of all of the people that I have encountered that don't understand that art takes time. Especially if you truly love the PROCESS. Learning new techniques, materials, connections, history and so on, is the beauty of it all. Taking your time on your work pushes you to be more innovative. It opens you mind to new possibilities. 

"We all need to be able to have silly thoughts and say stupid things and not feel judged."

I like this quote because it is so true! We are all so closed off. We are so scared to be ourselves these days because we don't want to be ridiculed. Judgement shuts us down. It limits honesty and authentic connections. We all have probably had those moments with our friends where you can be yourself and be free. It is the most vulnerable. Being human means having these imperfections.