DELEGATES
Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art Cultural Exchange and Exhibition China
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Alli Berman
Project Publicity Co-Director Project Catalog Photo Editor Abstract interactive artist Creator of PuzzleArt Therapy Woodmere, New York www.AlliBerman.com “PathWays to Protection or Destruction — Please Choose Wisely” PathWays to Protection or Destruction — Please Choose Wisely is a performance-based photograph that is both a warning and a map for women to follow to safely “Hold Up Half the Sky.” It was based on a 700’ interactive in- stallation of suspended paths fabricated from astroturf, spandex, painted mylar and bubblewrap that filled a 50’ x 50’ x 36’ deep space. Berman photographed the instal- lation for more than nine months while running, leaping and ducking to simulate actions women must take in the world to protect themselves. |
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Chan & Mann
chanandmann.com Audrey Chan Artist and writer Lives in Los Angeles, California UNABLE TO TRAVEL TO CHINA audreychan.net Elana Mann Artist Lives in Los Angeles, California elanamann.com Still from Chan & Mann's New Fantasy (The Video) 2013 13 x 19 inches Pigment on paper It is vital to form bonds between women artists in the United States and China who are working for causes of equality, justice, and social change. The women involved in this exchange share strategies of social engagement, and social practice, which will enrich the dialogue and the artwork that each of them will produce in the future. Cultural exchange can be enormously powerful in adding another layer to the relationship between citizens and culture. |
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Sherri Cornett
Mixed media sculptor and video artist Director of Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art Chair of the International Caucus of the Women's Caucus for Art Lives in Billings, Montana http://www.sherricornett.com "Ancestresses & Wise Women" 2014 36 inches x 36 inches Photograph My Ancestresses & Wise Women series of life-sized sculp- tures are symbolic representations of women who have mentored me. Within the circled sculptures, I facilitate conversations where women share experiences and perspectives and co-create deeper understanding of each other and themselves. My desire to build community and strengthen connections between otherwise diverse individuals has underpinned much of my work as an artist and advocate, including Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art. |
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Jing Deng
Project Co-Director Project Catalog Text Editor Project English Translator Painter jingdengart.net Lawrenceville, New Jersey http://www.jingdengart.net |
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Christine Giancola
Project Documentation Director Photographer Adjunct Associate Professor Webster University Florissant, Missouri http://www.christinegiancolaphotography.com “Half the Sky” 13 inches x19 inches Digital Print from a Film Scan I took this photograph in the Forbidden City eighteen years ago during the 4th U.N. World Conference on Women in Beijing China. For me as a photographer, this image has always represented the beauty, potential, hope, and future of China. Today, I envision these little girls as grown women, strong and empowered with children of their own. It is now their turn to hold up Half of the Sky. I am committed today, as I was then, to wom- en’s issues and to the importance of cultural understand- ing and exchange among all people of the world. I am honored to have been given this opportunity to return to China as a delegate and artist. |
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Kay Kang
Project De-installation Coordinator Painter, print maker and mixed-media artist http://www.artspan.org/artist/kaykang “Junwhan" By coming together and sharing our experiences through conversation, we can learn from each other and hopefully inspire each other. I am convinced that Chinese culture has many commonalities with Korean culture, especially preferring to have son over daughter, so I am looking forward to interacting with Chinese woman artists. My works like “It’s A girl!!” and “Jungwhan(For The Girls)” are tribute to many women who were given male names at birth by their families, in hope that their mothers would bear sons instead of daughters in the future. |
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Mido Lee
Project Assistant to the Director Project EssayTranslator Project Catalog Text Editor Photographer, video artist and installation artist San Francisco, Califiornia http://midolee.com “My Little, Little Wish" Each is 2.8” square I still remember 19th June 2006. That was the day I lost my son; that was the day that I realized there was no such thing called choice. Everything in the scene was eerie beautiful. The weather was nice, and the clouds floated in the blue sky. Even now I close my eyes, I can still see the swishing of cur- tains; and smell of white sheet. |
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Louder Than Words
www. louder-than-words.org S. A. Bachman Social practice artist Partner with Neda Moridpour (also a delegate) in Louder Than Words Senior Lecturer in Graduate Public Practice at Otis College of Art and Design Lives in Los Angeles, California www.sabachman.com www.agitart.org UNABLE TO TRAVEL TO CHINA Neda Moridpour Social practice artist Partner with S. A. Bachman (also a delegate) in Louder than Words Iranian Lives in Sherman Oaks, California http://nedmorid.comwww. louder-than-words.org |
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Rosemary Meza-DesPlas
Artist, poet, writer, Art instructor at El Centro College Installation Director for Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art Lives in Dallas, Texas http://www.rosemarymeza.com “Shoot at Blue Sky” Shoot at Blue Sky references a hunting phrase which aims to keep the hunters safe from friendly fire. The origins of my imagery in this particular work lie in nostalgic television from the 1970s; the imagery is fast-forwarded into the 21st century to ultimately be regurgitated as images of complexity and cognitive-duality. In my world woman is not only holding up half of the sky but she is protecting her piece of the pie. The correlation between this phrase, ‘women hold up half the sky’, and my artwork lies in my depiction of the resilient, adaptable nature of women to survive under patriarchal-contrived socio-cultural conditions. |
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Katie Morton
Painter Lives in Beijing, China “The Bridge” 71cm x 80cm Oil on Canvas Within The Bridge, two different views of the sky are reflected in the river—the salmon pink of the sunset, and the brilliant blue of the evening sky. Having lived in China for the past three years, I find that much of what I do is alien to those around me, and vice versa. What brings us all together, however, is that despite the apparent difference between the salmon pink and the brilliant blue, we are all reflections of one sky on one body of water. |
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Sandra Mueller
Photographer Events Director, Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art Art Facilitator, BeARTrageous Lives in Malibu, California http://scwca.org/profile/sandra-mueller http://www.beartrageous.com "Tara Triumphant" 2013 24 inches x 28 inches Archival Digital Print "Half the Sky” suggests global efforts to end poverty, empower women and seed justice — work that would please Tara, a Buddhist "mother of liberation” goddess. Presented as a triptych, “Tara Triumphant” offers a female shadow that reaches skyward — yet, also exists on the horizontal plane of the earth where we live and work. Similarly, this WCA and Luxun Academy cultural exchange invites artists and public alike to reach high and connect wide while inspiring one another in known and to be discovered ways. |
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Brenda Oelbaum
Artist President, Women's Caucus for Art 2014-2016 Lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan http://brendaoelbaum.me “Falling Out All Over” 4' x 6' Photograph As President of the Women’s Caucus for Art and a delegate, I represent our organization. My art illustrates my passion in helping women feel empowered. Women worldwide feel pressured to conform to cultural standards that are physically, emotionally and spiritually confining. My work shows my fearlessness in a culture that is fat phobic and obsessed with a very limiting definition of beauty; a definition that carries powerful symbolism of appropriate feminine behavior which truly sedates us. |
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Priscilla Otani
Mixed-media artist Human Resources Director, Half the Sky: Intersections in Social Practice Art President, Women's Caucus for Art 2012-2014 Lives in San Francisco, California http://www.mrpotani.com |
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Jill Waterhouse
Mentor and artist Publicity Team Member Lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota http://www.thewarm.org/jill-waterhouse/ UNABLE TO TRAVEL TO CHINA |