Wonder Women NOTES  — 17 JANUARY 2010

INTRODUCTIONS
Doris – logistics / Renata – stimulator

DEADLINE – FEB 28 INSTALLATION
MAR 3 SHOW

5th year : Bridging Identity, common thread, concerns in country born of immigrants, post immigrant identity

one weekly question – MON – FRI post to blog explanation, possibly link to project.
Renata will post question on Mon answer by Fri for Sunday meetings

Next week 25 min description of process, project – 20% of project complete – I am in Group A

How is the viewer experiencing your work?

Re-depository for memories for future and how they might relate to your ancestors your predecessors.

Current events relating to your memory, your experience. Connecting the common thread.

Graphics and propaganda relating to immigration – Renata project to find concrete evidence.

RECORD OF THE PROJECT:
Create a post on the BLOG this week related to project. Looking for feedback from wonder women.

Willa – Japanese decent (multi ethnic), based on grandmother who was a seamstress. Her artifacts are the connection. Dealt with rejection from family, b/c of leaving Japan. Never really accepted as an American. Cat symbol of welcoming.. recreating those images by way of her medium. Final medium not established. Becoming undone.

Agnes – Polish decent – tapestry that mom and aunt put together. Fusing yarn with candle. Fold it up and store it.
Using her own clothing. Creating this for her home in Poland. Using materials that no longer exists in a country unfamiliar with her process. Supply and Demand theory on yarn. Gobelin.

Roxana – El Salvador – “only reside in my skin” medium – photography. landscapes against her skin. find home outside, displacement. more at peace outside, conflict at home. Despite living in a city, nature is her home. TIME – chronology, time based photography, remember narrative, the order

Gianna – Panama -  melancholic, patience, temper. attitude of fashion, sophisticated. mom rejecting culture. dad engaged with culture. Connected to Panama – father’s attributes, folkloric traditions. Gianna is here based on mom’s influence. Globally talk visually. Packaging pop culture. Real estate and tourism boom. Making carnival water bottle, contents are remnants of carnival. Describe possible side affects. Communicate feelings about carnival through a survival kit.

Holly – Louisiana rural, cajun. Mom is German- Irish. Idiosyncratic, poetic, metaphor of physical change over time. Salt is a medium and common denominator among all cultures. The change salt will got through is the project. Coast in Louisiana being eroded, project could take the shape of a landscapes. Language breakdown, from grandparents only speaking Cajun French, parents never learned b/c language was discouraged. Only learned English in school, dad self taught Cajun French and never taught Holly. Salt is a symbol for money.

Lizette – Haitian, single parents, basic english. wood burning medium. Protecting the past, removed from Haiti yet the culture was taught and learned in America. Illustrating odd jobs.. on wood, mom is the inspiration.

Pam – Barbados, mom is inspiration. Mom passed a year ago, story of personal journey through dad and siblings. Removed from the idea of being Bajan. Series if questions related to returning to Barbados and not ever returning. Duality of culture.

Sonali – Indian, designer and problem solver. Basic necessities are the inspiration. Next war will be fought over water. Gathering energy, conduit is water. Rural India women wear beautiful mirror garments to walk to the dessert to collect water. Replacing the mirrors with solar panels, to plug in and afford energy for household. Women as hunters gatherers in a time of poverty. Gender roles, women pulling through, men falling apart in a time of crisis. Nuclear family shapes who you become.

Anjelika – Indian, designer. Deal with the issue of home. Married to an American – Indian, will not return to India to live. Anjelika would consider returning. Recycle old Indian garments into something a little more western. Creating wearable fashions. Blending in fashion. Cutting up sari’s to make western garments, think american apparel scarf. The uniform project. (Niki Lee, artist)

In which ways to you see your project connected to the immigrant experience? Address how my project is connected to migration patterns. Title the post. Answer question as a post.
Second post – a blurb about where I am in my proposal.
Read pages 6 – 14, addressing the question Renata posed.30
Feb 28 = installation
Feb 21 = last official meeting
Mar 3 = JC University show
BLOG : www.gaiastudio.org/wonderwomen, login with user/pass I registered.