People With No Names - The Undocumented #95

This is an 8" x 12" oil on board painting of my puffy, warm, down parka.  It is super cold at night in the desert now.   When the sun goes down, it is freezing.  I am thankful for my parka.  But still, I wouldn't want to be walking across the desert at night in this jacket.  And from an immigrant's point of view, this jacket is just too bright.  When you are trying to hide, you don't dress in bright colors.   I am lucky, I don't have to hide.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #94

This is 24" x 24" oil on board.  As I looked at this image I realized that the mother appears in her gesture to be 'giving a benediction' or 'blessing' her baby.  Perhaps, the act of immigration could be seen as a benediction or blessing on the immigrant's children/family.  "May the Lord bless you and keep you...as I go out into the wilderness to find work...until we are reunited again."

People With No Names - The Undocumented #93

This is 30" x 30" oil on stretched canvas.  I am reading the new Joan Didion book, "Blue Nights".  In one chapter she discusses the fact that her one, adopted, "beautiful baby girl" is perhaps privileged.  She recounts that her "beautiful baby girl" had 60 dresses.  (She counted them).  Didion changed the baby's dress four times "on the afternoon the State of California social worker made her mandated visit to observe the 'candidate for adoption' in the home environment."  Her house-cleaner, laundress (of the 60 dresses), and nanny, Aurcelia, had been prepped ahead of time NOT to speak to the social worker,  and to busy herself watering the garden.  Didion writes, "The thought of an unstructured encounter between Arcelia and a State of California social worker had presented spectral concerns from the outset...what if the social worker were to notice Arcelia spoke only Spanish?  What if the social worker were to happen into the question of Arcelia's papers?  What would the social worker put in her report if she devined that I was entrusting the perfect baby to an undocumented alien?"  Didion goes on in the next chapter to acknowledge that her "beautiful baby girl" DID, perhaps, have a privileged life;  but "Ordinary childhoods in Los Angeles very often involve someone speaking Spanish".  Okay,  I have thought a lot about the ways in which undocumented people harvest our produce, process our meat, and do myriad menial chores both inside and out of our homes.  But until now,   it had not occured to me that these 'unseen' laborers also contribute greatly to the cultural life of this nation!  How many artists have been able to continue their work because an undocumented person "picked up all the slack" so that their employers could continue to work?  I, for one, was struck with thanksgiving for 'Arcelia' in Joan Didion's life.  Because of this undocumented helpmate,  Joan Didion was able to continue to write her luminous prose!!!

People With No Names - The Undocumented #92

This 16" x 20" oil on canvas is another 'portrait' of an immigrant who blends into the landscape.  I am using a 'gridded out' way of approaching the subject matter to think about the disjointed and disconnected way that immigration is being approached in this country.  For one thing, individual states  claiming frustration with the federal government's inaction  have enacted their own particular laws to address a nationwide situation.  Alabama has enacted Draconian laws that have caused undocumented immigrants to withdraw their children from school, flee the state and leave crops rotting in the fields.  The governor of Alabama says that he believes his new law will put his roughly 10% unemployed Alabamans back to work.  Unfortunately the unemployed "documented" U.S. citizens have declined the arduous, backbreaking labor...hence the crops are rotting in the fields,  the price of all produce goes up...food is more expensive for the employed, the unemployed, the documented and undocumented.  Oh and all those little kids are not getting an education...disconnect.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #91

I have done two new paintings, (16" x 20" oil on canvas), and I have been thinking about undocumented immigrants and that series of childrens' books "Where's Waldo?"  Waldo books encourage children to search among crowd scenes for a tiny "Waldo" who is always dressed the same and easily recognizable...presumably these books really encourage visual literacy/careful observation.  In this painting there is an undocumented man doing landscape work.  He is barely distinguishable from his surroundings.  And that's the way he wants it.  He does not want you to identify him and pick him out.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #90

Today in mass our first reading was from Exodus 22:21.  It said, "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."  So I was thinking about the universality of being "the stranger" in any given situation or place.  And I remembered this painting/copy that I did to study Masaccio's, "Expulsion of Adam and Eve".  They are being driven out of the only homeland that they know.  And I thought of how often people will ONLY go to new places (physically or psychologically) if they are forced to.  Things have to be really bad, to choose to leave everything you know.  You are quite literally DRIVEN out of your home.  And in the midst of that tremendous physical and psychological dislocation...those of us who are not (at this moment) "the stranger" have a choice to make:  extend kindness or make a hard situation harder.

Works in Progress # 9

This is an oil on stretched canvas 30" x 40".  I am trying to capture the 'Eden-like' quality of the little pocket garden that is just outside my studio doors.  There is not a lot of upkeep;  and the fountain turns this fabulous 'pond-scum green' on a regular basis...but still,  it is very compelling.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #89

This is a 12" x 18" oil on foam-core.  The subject is a gardener,  who I recently interviewed as he was working on the grounds of the walled-in, one city-block area of an historic inn, in Tucson, AZ.  The huge grounds are very lush, beautifully cared for, and require constant, labor-intensive attention (in order to achieve the 'effortless', unchanging serenity of the place).  It is a large cocoon of subdued nature,  which has long been a haven for those captains of industry who can afford under-stated, old world pampering.  It is soothing and lovely.  Everything is under control, you can relax.  Which brings us to the gardener.  He is perfect for this place.  He does not speak English (he will not be chattering at guests).   He prefers to be behind-the-scenes, as he may or may not be documented to be in the U.S.  He is very grateful to have this job (as he explained to me in Spanish) because they let him eat food there, and all the free soda he wants.  He is used to very manual grooming of plants...his work ethic dovetails perfectly with the tedious work required to give this place the sense that you are on the grounds of a very large private home.    

People With No Names - The Undocumented #88

This 8' x12" oil on board is another reflection on whether there is room in our hearts and minds for the foreigner/stranger/immigrant...or like the Governor of Alabama,  we want the toughest laws in the country to "keep them out' and 'root them out of our midst'.  Not only does Gov. Robert Bentley's new law require people to "show papers" to prove they are "legal",  his new law "requires officials in K-12 public schools to determine whether students are illegal immigrants".   In other words, teachers, as well as policemen will be required to act as immigration agents.  Officials claim that there will NOT be racial profiling.  Not that long ago, in the southern U.S.,  free blacks were required to show papers to verify their status as non-slaves.  I guess it wasn't the color of their skin that made people question their 'status'...I guess they just looked like people who should be slaves.  Just like some people look like they should be 'illegal'.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #87

This watercolor of the single chair is a metaphor for the prevailing mood in much of the country.  Many people and government officials feel that there is not room for anyone to 'pull another chair up to the table'.  Wonderful,  informative daughter (from yesterday's post) just told me that the Oregon House of Representatives could only muster 26 of the 31 needed votes to move a bill to the floor that would  allow kids, who have been raised in this country, to pay in-state tuition at community and state colleges.  The 26 Democrats all voted "Yes" to the bill...and then all of the Republican Representatives just let the Bill's time run out.  So technically, they didn't vote AGAINST it, and they are not saying you can't get an education...you just need to come up with a formidable amount of money.  There is a Spanish saying,  "There is always room for one more, everyone just takes a little less".   Another daughter told me recently that when you clear the furniture and clutter out of a room,  people have the urge to dance.  Let's make space for others...and dance.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #86

I am not sure that this painting is finished... but it is a series called 'The Other End of the Pool'.
 The two chairs make me think about this wonderful thing that Father Don preached to us two weeks ago.  He said, "En la mesa del Senor hay bastante espacia por todos"  (At the table of the Lord,  there is space for all.)  My daughter just explained to me the idea of "The Social Contract",   that she learned about in her philosophy class.  It is an idea/agreement in society that "this is HOW it is,  this is HOW WE DO THINGS,  this is how we have ALWAYS done things.  It may not be best for the dignity of every individual in society,  it may not INCLUDE every individual in our society,  but by and large the ruling majority is comfortable".  Then, along comes a "Moral Hero" who says, "I am going to go against the prevailing social contract, in order to do what is right for individual dignity".  (Think Dorothy Day, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., the Freedom Riders, The Stonewall Insurrection)  Today we have an opportunity to offer disenfranchised, undocumented people a seat at the table.  We have an opportunity to treat immigrants with dignity and respect.  We have an opportunity to lift them up in prayerful support...not so they become more like us...so they become fully who God means them to be.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #85

Okay, this 8 x 12" oil on board seems weird for my series about immigrants,  but let me try to connect it.  I see these beautiful swimming pools all over Arizona.  They are feasts for the eyes and the body...to see and be dipped in beautiful cool water on a hot day.  Who wouldn't want that?  Water is  symbol and sustenance of life.   Whole 'pools' of water are available to some,  while others are dying of thirst (literally) walking through the scorching desert between Mexico and the U.S. to find work to feed their families.

why i paint what i paint #22

This 24" x 24" oil on canvas is a painting of my painting partner and me...painting.  I am very happy with the fragmented, unfinished nature of the image.  I am stunned over and over, how much more 'realistically' this way of mark-making conveys the truth of a thing, story,  person than the very crisp, realistic, finished work.  I think it has something to do with the 'river-ish' nature of our lives.  The minute we step in to the water...THAT water has moved on.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #84

This is the same family constellation, except with color.  The young woman (oldest daughter)
who is third from left, has been meticulously managing her father's care since his cancer was discovered 6 months ago.  She has a loose-leaf notebook full of his billing documents, and a loose-leaf notebook on all his treatments, medications, and doctor's orders.  She looms large in this painting, because she is a tireless and cheerful presence in her family.  My husband and I are struck that this young woman would make a wonderful nurse...to be a resource for our WHOLE community... not just her family.  Alas,  she does not have documentation that would aid  her in getting an education.   How can we equip all people to use their gifts,  regardless of their ethnicity or origin?  How can we view people as potential assets and resources?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  "Every modern culture that we know of is a composite.  It is 'mestizo' made up of disparate elements,  which nonetheless form an integrated whole.  The cultural frontier is at the heart of every human grouping, every individual.  A human grouping---like any other living organism---cannot survive except by confronting the unknown, the unexpected.  It must re-form its identity at the threshold of every new encounter.  It is engaged in a ceaseless effort of absorption, assimilation, and transmutation---of symbols, images, modes of existence.  To try to arrest this movement at any given point---whether from nostalgia over the past or the dream of a sirenic utopia---is to condemn it to sclerosis and death."   Jacques Audinet (Institut Catholique, Paris)

People With No Names - The Undocumented #83

          This oil on canvas is an under-painting of the immigrant who is dying of pancreatic cancer.  There are those who begrudge him the medical care he has gotten...because that is "American medical care that is meant for American citizens. i.e.  He is using resources that are not meant for him".   He came over with his two daughters to pose for me.   In my living room, they were just a group of people whose lives were marked with uncertainty and gratitude that their father had /was experiencing the "milagro" (miracle) of living so long past his dire diagnosis.  They are very thankful for their long good by and the ability to plan for when he is no longer with them.          
          I just read about the Pope speaking with 12 astronauts circling Earth.  One of the astronauts is Mark Kelly.  His wife, a congresswoman,  was shot in the head while attempting to connect with her constituents on Jan.8, 2011 at a Safeway grocery store in Tucson, Arizona.  The Pope said that, "It must be obvious to you that we all live together on one Earth and how absurd it is that we fight and kill each other."  Kelly told the pope that, "Borders cannot be seen from space",  and noted that,  "Down on Earth, people usually fight for resources.  At the space station, solar power provides unlimited energy, and if those technologies could be adapted more on Earth, we could possibly reduce some of that violence."

why i paint what i paint #21

     I am reading a 20 yr old book that I stumbled upon at my local University Bookstore.  It is titled BORDERLANDS/LA FRONTERA The New Mestiza.  Apparently it was a groundbreaking work rooted in Gloria Anzaldua's experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist and a writer.  On the back of the book it says that Borderlands "remaps our understanding of what a "border" is,  presenting it not as a simple divide between here and there, us and them,  but as a psychic, social, and cultural terrain that we inhabit,  and that inhabits all of us.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #82

This 15" x 30" oil on canvas is another view of the migrant father who came from Mexico 16 years ago to support his family.  He is dying...before he can see 'The Dream Act' (a bill that would enable his children to contribute to their new homeland as educated citizens) realized.  But there is hope,  because  U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (Dem.- Chicago)  has gone on a 20-city tour to urge the White House to develop a fairer and more humane immigration policy.  "Barack Obama--who once bemoaned when  'communities are terrorized by ICE immigration raids, when nursing mothers are torn from their babies, when children come home from school to find their parents missing,  is on track to deport more illegal immigrants than any U.S president since Dwight Eisenhower and Operation Wetback in 1954.  (That crackdown resulted in the removal of nearly 1 million people.)  The Obama administration deported 800,000 people in its first two years."  Gutierrez wants Obama to spare two groups of people with an executive power known as "parole-in-place"---illegal immigrants who have U.S.-born children, and college students who might have qualified for legal status under the Dream Act.  Many Latinos believed in Obama's promise of "change" three years ago.  They need to see it.  For some, time is literally running out.     (the portion in quotes is from a column by Ruben Navarrette Jr. from the Washington Post Writers' Group, May 13, 2011)

People With No Names - The Undocumented #81

This is oil on board 8" x 12".  He is dying of pancreatic cancer.  He is undocumented.  He is running out of time and he will leave a wife and two children undocumented and vulnerable.  He is very, very skinny,  but is dressed up and slowly walks  into my house so that he can sit for me to paint him.  He had an air of quiet dignity. I ask if he is in pain and he re-assures me that he is not, because (and here he pulls his shirt collar down to show me) he has a fentanyl patch on his chest to slowly release strong pain killer into his body.  His daughter who has driven him to my house says that it is a "milagro" (miracle) that he is still with us. 

People With No Names - The Undocumented #80

This 24" x36" oil on canvas depicts an immigrant who is doing gardening work in my neighborhood.  I love his turquoise ladder and orange glove.  I will probably return again and again to the ladder metaphor/motif in my paintings...but maybe not always as a way UP (up in society, up economically).  Rather,  I am thinking of the ladder as a tool that helps a person "reach" something that is unreachable, and return to the ground safely.  We all need effective tools in our lives.

why i paint what i paint #20

Wow,  last night I saw an amazing film that I had NOT wanted to see,  (because I didn't even know it existed).   I went to see "Of Gods and Men" but the tiny art theater in Corvalis was only showing it every other night!  So we just picked an unknown movie,  and were blown away!  The movie is called "I Am", and explores 'what is wrong with the world,  and how we can fix it'.  It explores the idea that we are NOT competitive, survival of the fittest, creatures...but rather cooperative, inclusive beings.  It even points out that Darwin noted this characteristic of species;  but somehow his 'survival' idea gained historical traction and dominates.  And an 'idea' of how we ARE,  shapes how we BEHAVE.  If we believe that it is a competitive, dog-eat-dog world,  we will behave accordingly.  We will believe that poor immigrants are "taking our jobs,  abusing our social services, ruining our country".   The film defines 'mental illness' as: taking MORE than we need to live,  encouraging the strong to disregard the needs of the weak, (the young, the old, the infirm, the poor),  and applauding those who amass vast fortunes while exploiting the weak.  Of course the idea of fixing what is wrong with the world's systems is daunting, but as dear Desmond Tutu says in the film,  "God says,  I don't have anybody else (to do my work),  just you".   Tutu also reminds us that,  "There is only one way to eat an elephant...one bite at a time".