Being an artist is always a challenge but with our American economy today, this is really a journey of faith. Why do we make this decision! For me, it seemed to be a way to communicate and serve others. Create images of expression which would connect to others on a universal level. M
aybe give a moment of peaceful meditation at the end of a stressful day. i knew i was searching for relief. my intention was to reach others who felt as disconnected as i did. find beauty, understand what was truth in contemporary society. when you study art history you see a society mark time with it's presence. i thought i will be a reporter of my times. i will proclaim what life is like as a woman artist in New Orleans, in America in the 21st century. a lot to take on but this is where i landed. my determination took me on a long journey, thirty years and counting, doing what i love. but today, as i sit here in this coffee shop on North C
arrollton avenue using their inter net service, i am questioning everything. unable to pay my bills, in debt for the first time in my life i try to come up with a solution. i keep quotes in journals. one says "when nothing works, do nothing". okay, then what? does artwork get better because we suffer? everyone suffers at some point in time. do we invite suffering as artist? my suffering is over topping just like the levels did when hurricane Katrina invaded this city. loss came knocking. change, reduction, despair and fear followed me like a dog on the hunt. decisions made cascaded into a black hole which seems to have no end. the economy smacks us all. we tumble to the ground. as a demented bonus, this gulf region is hit by an oil spill which is predicted to effect the area for the rest of our lifetime. www.chrisclarkartist.com
Life is often difficult in New Orleans, always difficult for artists, and unbearable right now for anyone in the Gulf South, but we have to keep on creating. Especially you, Chris. Your work, which is the last thing I see when I go to sleep and awake, gives me inspiration everyday. Somehow I don't think your work would be so deep if you were living in luxury in a spiffier locale. Your work reflects the beauty and suffering we all go through as artists living here and that's what I love about your work. It indeed shows the strength one must possess to endure what we must.
ReplyDeleteYou may have already heard this quote, but here goes:
"Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under a lava flood of taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become only a study for archaeologists... But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes, than to own the whole state of Ohio." -- Lafcadio Hearn, 1879
I love Cheryl's post and quote Chris. I wish things were easier. For you and for the city. It hurts my heart. Life is indeed easier in other places but not as rich.
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