|
| Melinda Schawel |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Full Circle |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 20 October - 7 November 2009 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When I was 8, my parents divorced,
and my life was turned upside down.
My Dad moved to California with my
older sister, my Mom shacked up with
a cowboy, and I went to church. I
was convinced that although my Mother
was now beyond redemption, my younger
brother and I would not follow suit.
This continued for quite a few years
but by the ripe old age of 12, the
delicate seams of the evangelical
movement that consumed every small,
southern town that we lived in began
to unravel. You could say that I saw
the light.
So when I landed back in Georgia in
May of 2008 after spending much of
my adult life overseas, I was quickly
confronted by the reality that organized
religion still played a significant
role in the lives of many here. On
the romantic, tree-lined streets of
Savannah, there is literally a church
on every corner, with signs outside
beaming divine messages, beckoning
the parishioners and the believers
and the rest of us to put our faith
in God and He will take care of the
rest.
Driving up and down the streets, I
often get an eerie feeling of having
come full circle, only this time I
am an outsider observing a place both
familiar and foreign, with children
of my own. The surreal experience
of returning home inspired my next
body of work - to create simple slogans,
tips for the day, or life lessons
for both my daughter and son, stripped
of morality and fear and any mention
of salvation, deliverance or redemption.
They are messages set on a backdrop
of old collaged postcards and tinged
with references to my past, American
popular/consumer culture and the
not so serious side of life.
Melinda Schawel |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Don’t Cry Wolf
2009 (diptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 60 cm |
|
|
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
2009 (diptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 70 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tips for Girls from Barbie’s
White House Project 2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 40 cm
|
|
Tips for Girls
collage, ink, wax on wood
40x30 cm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don’t Let Me Down
2009 (diptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 60 cm |
|
|
Sentient Being
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 40 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oh the Places You’ll Go!
2009 (triptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 100 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Different Strokes for Different Folks
2009 (diptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 80 cm |
|
|
Life’ s a Toy 2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 30 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reinventing Yourself
2009 (triptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 100 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Swap Seats
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
36 x 28cm
|
|
The More They Stay the Same
2009
collage, wax on wood
36 x 28cm
|
|
Palms & Oleanders
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
36 x 28cm
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You Gotta Go There to Come Back
2009 (triptych)
collage, ink, wax on wood
40 x 100 cm |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Scout’s Honour
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40x40 cm
|
|
Good Times
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40x40 cm
|
|
Play Me
2009
collage, ink, wax on wood
40x40 cm
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
| | |
| |
