This second part of “Confronting COVID-19 with Inspired Art and Determination” is adapted from the text description for “Angels of Music Revisited” featured on Fine Art America and at Pixels.com. It combines my tribute to an inspiring historic Italian artist with my own poetry. In you missed part 1 to this post you can check it out here. Part 2 starts now: Angels of Music Revisited is a mixed media digital painting reinterpretation of the sixteenth century Italian artist Morazzone’s (Pier Francesco Mazzuchelli, 1573 - 1626) “Angel Musicians.” The original 16th century image minus any text was created using black chalk and brown wash, with white gouache used for additional effect. I chose a palette of bronze, gold, and Earth tones contrasting with shades of blue and indigo to suggest a realistic conflict between human suffering and healing spiritual grace. The background for this edition is meant to duplicate the appearance of classic parchment or an illuminated manuscript. It is also distinguished from the first version by the integration of short quotes (some of them haikus) from my book THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS. Most of the quotes are easily read but a couple are partially inverted to emphasize the script’s dual function as text commentary and visual enrichment. That lets it work as a poster and as fine art. Morazonne’s version was made part of the Getty Museum’s Open Content Project in 2013, classifying it as public domain material appropriate for editing. I wanted to pay tribute to Morazonne’s original vision while hopefully strengthening the sense of visual depth and felt interconnectedness in such a way that it could stand as a true creative response to the COVID-19 2020 pandemic. This seemed fitting enough given the hard hit Morazonne’s homeland of Italy took before the virus jumped the ocean to the U.S. Below are the quotes from different poems in THE RIVER OF WINGED DREAMS used in the above artwork: 1) Chords of miraculous notions enrich your blessed voice The extensive impact of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is, obviously, not something which can be completely summed up, and not at all resolved, by a single creative gesture. But it is through creative expression and productivity that many are sustaining hope and surviving the restrictions of self-imposed quarantine these extremely difficult days. From the beginning, a huge part my purpose for chronicling stories, making poems, and creating visual art has been to help alleviate the anguish history sometimes imposes upon our lives, and I hope to continue accomplishing that to whatever degree possible in this current uncertain hour. Aberjhani © Harlem Renaissance Centennial
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Last month (May 2019) the editors of Excellence Reporter, a website based in France, asked me to respond to these interview questions: "What makes a compassionate city or community?" and "What is the meaning of life?"
The way my creative instincts work these days, questions of this kind tend to inspire both verbal and visual considerations. Anyone wishing to check out the verbal part provided Excellence Reporter is invited to visit the following pages: The visual results came in the form of two new works of Silk-Featherbrush art now available at Fine Art America and Pixels.com. The one seen just below is titled Journey towards a Brand New Day, and the other further down is called Battle for the Beauty of the Sun.
Journey towards a Brand New Day is my visual metaphor for engaged citizens around the world taking stands against different forms of social and political injustice while simultaneously celebrating their appreciation of life and each other. They are motivated more by visions of compassion and unity than by political sleights of hand.
Election years, like the one we're in right now (or soon will be as 2020 approaches), tend to come with built-in headaches. But there's also a lot of beauty in the way diverse communities assert themselves to participate in a process where the outcome is usually uncertain. Protests currently taking place in Hong Kong are one form of such expressions. On this canvas we see waves of determined chromatic lines moving toward a shadowy horizon. Streaks of magenta reflecting against a cobalt blue and indigo sky symbolize emerging potential and hope that sometimes wavers but never completely fades. The Extraordinary Adventure that Life Is
I see the image here titled Battle for the Beauty of the Sun as representative of resistance to different forms of extremism which increase polarization and encourage violence as a means for resolving conflicts. Although done with a minimalist approach in the Silk-Featherbrush style, it is meant to convey movement toward balance and fulfillment.
In addition to the questions posed by Excellence Reporter, the composition of Battle for the Beauty of the Sun was also heavily influenced by my reading of Asian author Yang Jisheng's Tombstone, the Great Chinese Famine 1958-1962. TOMBSTONE in particular reminded me of some human beings' strange habit of intentionally corrupting or destroying the abundance of beauty which surrounds us on a daily basis. But how fortunate we are that many more employ their energies toward the exact opposite: preserving and creating all that which makes life the extraordinary adventure it is.
Aberjhani Harlem Renaissance Centennial
This is technically the third work of art to be included in my Redbird Series but the fourth included in the Redbird Gallery at Fine Art America . A recent visitor to the gallery shared some comments offline about her interpretations of the meaning of red cardinals in my life. I found her remarks very interesting because they reminded me of passages from one of my most recently-completed manuscripts in which I discuss how different birds have functioned as symbols in my literary work. Probably the best known is identified in the title of the poetry collection: Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black.
What I find particularly interesting about the red cardinal is that it actually has not been incorporated into my writings. The preferred mode of creative expression, where it is concerned, seems to be visual art.
While finishing "Redbird in the Valley of Beautiful Possibilities," I recalled a former co-worker telling me the red cardinal was kind of like a shooting or falling star. "When you see a red bird," she explained, "you should blow it a kiss for good luck." I don't know how many people have discovered that to be either true or false but the artist in me considers the idea very poetic. Aberjhani August 2018
"Redbird Sifting Beauty out of Ashes" is the second print in the Redbird Series and my homage to those battling California's historic wildfires of 2018. . It is a landscape-formatted artwork consisting of nature photography, layered oil, digital painting, custom-designed matting, customized framing, and signature Postered Chromatic Poetics digital processing.
The balanced light and dark hues, with colors appearing to emerge from smoky shadows, framed by shades of gold, teal, and rust make it easy to imagine the cardinal at the center of this work surrounded by danger as well as inspired beauty. The landscape formatting make this art particularly desirable for either large wall canvases or smaller purchases like cups and cards, from which a substantial percentage of the proceeds will go toward support for survivors of the California wildfires.
Whether it's because I lived in California for a number of years or because the magnitude of the blazing destruction taking place there at present is so overwhelming, "Redbird Sifting Beauty out of Ashes" is my tribute to those caught up in the 2018 inferno. As horrendous as it is, so many are rising to the challenge of surviving, continuing to fight the monstrous flames, and somehow rebuilding shattered lives.
Yet at the same time that I find myself so deeply moved by the devastation taking place in California, I realize we are living in an era when different kinds of "natural" and man-made disasters are forcing many people to start all over again all over the world. "Redbird Sifting Beauty out of Ashes" is a visualized hope they all find the strength, faith, determination, and support needed to succeed. I'm not sure how to go about it at this point but am looking for ways to donate a sizable percentage of sales from this work to relief funds for people coping with the wildfires. If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate receiving them via either message here or in the comments section. Aberjhani August 2018
"Suzannian Algorithm Finger-Painted on an Abstract Wall Number 1" was inspired by conversations with the artist to whom it is dedicated: Suzanne Jackson. We discovered we both had connections to the U.S. state of Alaska. Later on, when working on the project to commemorate approaching milestones, I felt something reminiscent of the colorful aurora borealis would make a good image on which to place an original poem.
This artwork was created and is presented in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance and the brilliant artistry of Suzanne Jackson. It is one of two different images featuring the same poem. My play is to donate a significant percentage of sales from prints, t-shirts, cups, and other products featuring the artwork toward support of the Five-Decades Retrospective exhibition of Ms. Jackson's art scheduled to be held at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, Georgia (USA) in 2019 from June 28 until October 6. You can read an excerpt from the poem written specifically for this poster and occasion by clicking the above link.
Some Bio Background
Ms. Jackson is the recipient of a B.A. in Art from San Francisco State University and holds an MFA from the Yale University School of Drama, Design. She has enjoyed a highly-productive career both as an artist whose works bridge the gap between the Harlem Renaissance and our contemporary era, and as an educator.
She was only 24 years old in 1968 when she took the incredible step of opening Gallery 32 in Los Angeles, California. That move made her only the second gallery owner of African descent in the City of Angeles, a.k.a. "the City of Stars." It allowed her to advance not just her own career as an artist, but that of other women as well. Particularly notable was the gallery's "Sapphire" review of African-American women artists held in 1970. Ms. Jackson's own works since then have been shown in exhibitions across the globe.
In addition, her career as an educator has been a distinguished one, including stints as a Professor of Painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) from 1996-2009, and as Adjunct Professor of Painting, Graduate Studies, at the same institution from 2009-2013.
Prof. Jackson has said of her work: "By continued searching to find 'spirit' references especially in Indigenous-American cultural traditions, established and evidenced in the entry origins of African-American cultural experiences, I am following the paths of ancestors." That search and path includes the groundbreaking labors of the artists of the Harlem Renaissance; hence, the appropriately combined commemoration of Jackson's extraordinary accomplishments with the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance. Aberjhani |
Artist-Author AberjhaniAward-winning author and artist acclaimed for works in multiple creative genres. Archives
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