No. 52 – Brava
and confusing attempts at being "progressive"
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Funny story: While producing work for the upcoming exhibit Life’s Work: A Visual Memoir, I had the idea for a triptych showing a woman getting up from the ground, in the manner of someone rising triumphant. I wanted the three paintings or stages of rising to say “Get Up”, “C’Mon”, and “Atta Girl”.
But I faltered at “Atta Girl”. Was that flippant term befitting the painting of a sixty-two year old woman? Was it in fact politically incorrect, as it involved the word girl, in reference to a grown-ass woman?
OH, it is to laugh. Somehow or another I landed on using the word “Brava” instead, which is the feminine version of “Bravo” in Italian. It works, but it makes for a very different painting. Why didn’t I just use “Atta Girl” like I wanted to? I fell prey to the fear, that’s why. “Brava” feels a little too self-congratulatory, while “Atta Girl” has more of a sense of being cheered on. That’s what I was after. Though I do see that Brava has more gravitas, which is befitting a serious 62 year-old grown-ass woman.
My trepidation about using the term “Atta Girl” reminded me of the purchase of our daughter’s first Barbie back in the late 90’s. How we agonized. We knew it was unavoidable, but we chafed at the thought of putting that mutant, tippy-toed bitch in our impressionable daughter’s hands. Finally we settled on a South Asian Barbie, who had flat feet but still had the unrealistically va-va-voom body. How very progressive of us.
Of course, we called her East Indian Barbie at the time. And indeed she was Indian according to her garb, but I decided to use South Asian in this post instead of Indian because the term Indian could be confusing and/or offensive around these parts. Or am I over-thinking? I DON’T HONESTLY KNOW.
I remember being transfixed by the new Barbie’s painted-on face when I first gazed upon it. Oh my God… she's so beautiful. Looking into her face I was instantly a girl again, gazing into the seductive eyes of she who I should learn to emulate. The emulation wasn’t successful, but I remember the love.
Not very long after the overwrought gifting of our daughter’s first politically correct Barbie, a friend appeared on our back deck one sunny Saturday and dropped down a box of twelve high-heeled blonde Barbies that he’d just picked up at a garage sale. Move over, Indian Barbie.
Naturally, our daughter’s life was forever ruined. So sad.
This female figure was not meant to be me, exactly. It could be anyone struggling with something and coming out the other side. Not necessarily unscathed, but coming out all the same.
The best way out is always through.
LIFE’S WORK: A VISUAL MEMOIR
Opening night is Friday, June 3rd at the Victoria Arts Council, 1800 Store Street, Victoria BC. The show is up until July 17th.
My current work is a visual memoir about the last five years of my mother’s life, after she’d been diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia. It’s also about my uneasy relationship with her growing up, and how that made dealing with her dementia a kind of spiritual quest I didn’t know I was going to have to make.
It began with paintings, but as the project developed it became clear that the best way to tell this story was through graphic memoir (memoir comics)—something I had no experience with. Experimenting with this new genre was both frustrating and invigorating. In order to loosen up, at a certain point I intentionally started using a cheap, limiting brush—opening a gateway to working more intuitively and with less perfectionism. Both artistically and personally, this project has proved to be a watershed moment for me.
All of the work in this show is ink on paper, and has been leading toward a future graphic memoir that will be comprised of a series of paintings telling the story from start to finish. The writing for this book is in its final stages and has been through a developmental edit; the new paintings will commence in the near future.
Please come join us at the opening from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. There will be beer and wine by donation, so bring some cash! Hope to see you there.
The Victoria Arts Council asked Kate Cino of artopenings.ca to write about Life’s Work: A Visual Memoir, and the result is here if you’d like to take a gander.
This post is somewhat brief, as I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment with the show starting in a couple of days. As always, thank you so much for being here!
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Love the garage sale Barbie story. EVERYONE IS TRYING SO HARD!
Atta girl! Because on some level, we ARE girls and there ain’t nothing wrong with that 🥰