American Seen
In Fall 2020, Strewn Wonder Executive Director Yoon S. Byun photographed and interviewed artists of color creating in Maine, the whitest state in the country. The work was featured in American Seen, a series by photographers across the country depicting our collective humanity. American Seen was commissioned by the Emerson Collective, a philanthropic and advocacy organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.
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Titi De Baccarat: I am a painter, sculptor, jeweler, clothing design, writer, photographer, songwriter and actor.
What can art do right now?: Art can educate communities on specific topics. Art can talk about sensitive subjects in a way that touches the human soul and open to dialogue. Art can capture moments of the present time to serve as a witness to future generations.
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Ashley Page: I am a maker, a sculptor and an interdisciplinary artist, but also as a social disruptor; someone who can't sit still or stay quiet. (Note: “Fallen Blooms” mural, pictured, is a collaboration with artist Rachel Gloria Adams.)
What can art do right now?: To remove yourself from the work and experience it as a reflection of experiences that are so much larger than yourself, and understand that, of this point in time — this is how people are feeling, and this is what people are making — the role of art right now would be just to share.
It’s to cultivate the generosity of exchange, in a conversation, and of vision and a perspective of minds, in order to enable further connectivity.
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Daniel and Marcia Minter: Co-founders of Indigo Arts Alliance, an organization that amplifies creative practices of Black and Brown artists, and artists of color.
What can art do right now?
“Art really has the power to represent truth and be a mirror to society. It can help to expose emotion and influence attitudes, and bring people together. When you use art, you can give people ways of expressing those things. You can give people ways of saying yes, that's what I'm feeling.” Daniel Minter
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Elizabeth Jabar and Sean Alonzo Harris: Co-founders of Hinge Collaborative, a studio createt o share models and strategies for socially engaged art and civic action.
What can art do right now?
“Through creative action, artists can draw out questions and hold space for complexity, nuance, and contradiction. Within this space, we dare to take a risk and imagine that another world is possible and realize that we are capable of constructing a more equitable and inclusive future.”
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Firefly: My hyper-creativity is a gift from Creator. My role is to share this in every aspect of my life. Being an artist, a creative, is not something I do. It is completely what I am.
What can art do right now?: Art can do so many things for so many people. We need healing. We need to have our frequencies elevated. We need to evolve. Art can help us with these challenges.
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Irene Yadao: Co-founder of Paper Tongue Productions. I work in video and film — I produce, direct and edit. I also have a couple of screenplays I hope to get filmed soon.
What can art do right now?: Art can do so many things for so many people. We need healing. We need to have our frequencies elevated. We need to evolve. Art can help us with these challenges.
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Ryan Adams: I am a muralist, painter and designer. I normally work with spray paint, acrylic paint and lettering enamels.
Rachel Gloria Adams: I am a painter and textile designer. I normally use acrylic, ink and collage for my paintings and screen printing for my textiles.
(Note: The pictured mural is of Alain Nahimana, a part of the “Piece Together Project,” a collaborative rotating mural project by Ryan and Rachel Adams that represents and honors members of the East Bayside community in Portland, Maine.)
What can art do right now?:
Ryan: I think the role of art, especially public art, is crucial to what we are currently experiencing as a country and culture. I think that art can represent voices that are often unheard and create a dialogue within communities through the shared experience of viewing the work.
Rachel: Art has always been a vehicle for change, and right now especially, it can be a place to find solace.
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Ayumi Horie: My primary role in art has increasingly shifted to that of an agitator, who tries to expand the ceramics field and hold it to higher standards. I’m a potter by trade.
What can art do right now?: Art is a kind of chameleon that infiltrates our lives in a multitude of ways. We need slow moving work that speaks to our humanity and we need confrontational art that insists on being heard. Using all these approaches is critical and the goal with them all should be more life-affirming social and racial justice in the world.