The Harn Banee Louis
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art
Audrey Flack - American, born 1931 This piece of artwork speaks to me on multiple of levels. The artist, Flack, beautifully highlighted the role of women in her piece as it is powerful, and exuberant to relate that women are just as alive powerful as men. To begin with, I believe that the choice of material(stone) is a wise choice where it depicts the strength of women; the color, gold, magnifies a women's value; and, its size, which is tall and voluminous, defines a women's authority--equivalent to a man's. Flack's artwork is an offer to establish social healing and regeneration with her choice of Goddess: Islandia, Goddess of the Healing Waters.The Goddess, Islandia's rules of living were joy, success, leadership and healing and extended her power past healing by also offering justice.
The Asian Collection - There is no doubt that this wing of the The Harn is the most serene. From the big windows to the ceiling of the wing, it brings you to Asia as the beautiful scenery captures you with it's beautiful green plants. The space, being a wide and open one, is used beautifully as each piece of artwork is highlighted by the lighting provided by the natural lighting from the sun. The Asian wing provided me with great serenity and peace.
Female Royal Ancestor Mask (Ngady a Mawaash) - One of my core values is justice and as a supporter of women's rights, this piece speaks on levels to me. This mask represents all women and is an emblematic of fertility and the suffering of women. Women's suffrage was great amongst the Kuba people (Democratic Republic of Congo) as women were not greatly appreciated and were berated by men. The mask's detailing includes black lines under its eyes to highlight tears that symbolize the anguish of women. This piece allows me to cherish the progression of women's rights as we are better appreciated and more equal to men in comparison to the past.
Frida in Bed with Dog - This photograph depicts Frida Kahlo's suffering. This correlated with the Good Life theme: Embodying. Khan's depression and anxiety is apparent as she has gone through spinal operations, morphine and other drugs to subdue the pain (Physical Embodiment). Additionally, this shows her grief as her lover was having an affair with the actress Maria Felix who was ransack to her only because Felix refused to marry him (Internal/ mental embodiment). Depression plays a major role in the late years of Kahlo but to find peace she turns to her pets. In this particular photograph, she turns to her hairless ezcuintle dog. This piece allows me to understand embodying through the literal pain that Kahlo endured.