[Background: I had the great honor of having my art selected for the Gifts Of Madness exhibit at the Penticton Art Gallery. The exhibit was curated by the renowned Kagan Goh, affectionately known as the “bipolar laureate” of Vancouver, whose short film The Day My Cat Saved My Life had its world premiere at Mental Filmness. The exhibit was a celebration of Mad Pride, a movement that encourages those who struggle with mental health to embrace not only its challenges but the gifts of creative and expressive gifts it often brings, creating a holistic and de-stigmatizing picture. I was so honored, in fact, that I decided to attempt to pull off the truly mad stunt of traveling from Chicago to Pentiction in one weekend to be at the exhibit opening, which I somehow managed to do, with some pratfalls along the way.]
Gifts Of Madness – Part I – OK, from now on, I have to make more detailed itineraries and plans. This trip was kind of last-minute and on a whim and I forgot *everything*, I really mean everything. My passport and phone at first, my toothbrush and brush somehow, and even some of my clothes. I have no idea how I managed to do that with so little packing to do, except I was terrified and overwhelmed and almost paralyzed.
Because of my blunders I missed my flight and with international flights that don’t run frequently that meant I had to get to Penticton the next day, which was a huge bummer of course. I was sad and frustrated and about to give up, but I kept thinking, how many chances like this do you get in a lifetime? and pushed through.
Also, the buses don’t run on the weekends in Penticton, so I took a cab straight to the Penticton Art Gallery. This was when I began to forget my travel troubles a bit as I looked out the window at the beautiful rolling mountains and trees. Our cab had to stop for 20 minutes because we were at the site of a landslide (?) so that threw another hurdle in my way. When I arrived, though, I immediately knew that everything was worth it.
I finally got to meet Kagan Goh and his lovely wife Julia in person and look around at the amazing exhibit. I have never been in an exhibit of this scope and scale. There were over 100 artists showing with a few pieces of work in a diverse array of styles that reflected a theme of mental health. Kagan said that he put out a call for work on the theme rather than seeking out established artists because he wanted to give “emerging artists” (like myself) a chance to exhibit, which reminds me a lot of what I try to do with Mental Filmness.
And then I saw my exhibit and it just blew my mind. There was nothing different about it really except that my landscapes were hung together within that context, but I can’t describe how truly special it felt for them to be there. I was also quite moved that they included my entire lengthy biography and artist’s statement next to my work. Julia was kind enough to offer to snap a few pics of me next to it when I was still a little frazzled. You can spend hours of painting in solitude, and these moments of validation and recognition are what make it worth it. And now I can truly say that my art has gone international!
