“The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.” -Ruth Bader Ginsberg
All beings have a right to and require control over their bodies. We recognize the loss of physical control as the ultimate dehumanization. Whether captive by another or by disease, when bereft of our bodies we lose more than just a physical component of life. Much is made of the ways in which the bodies of women and men have been controlled throughout history. The exertion of power almost unfailingly includes some bodily constraint or affront.
M. Evelina Galang is an author currently working on a novel titled Beautiful Sorrow Beautiful Sky, a love story between two 70-year-olds who meet at a community center. Both characters have a complex history from WWII, she a former Filipino Comfort Woman, he a Japanese-American who was put in an internment camp. For this book, Galang did extensive research which she found a very personal experience, altering the way in which she views the world and women’s bodies. To hear more about her writing, including live readings, and the brutal history of Filipino Comfort Women during WWII, listen to the complete interview.
Heather Rasmussen is in LA where she is working on an installation for a group show at the Wingnall Museum of Contemporary Art at Chaffey College. Her work of late consists of photographs of herself taken with no one else to assist. This process can be time consuming. Rasmussen also has a small child and finds this limits her time in the studio, although she is careful to say she does not mind the time commitment of motherhood. Recent photos involve her own pumped breast milk and her own body in component parts and casts. To hear more about her work, and to see examples of Heather Rasmussen’s imagery, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:
At the very base, all humans require control over their own bodies. Everything else comes after.
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Genevieve Kaplan’s books can be found here. Books by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn can be found here.
Calling all animators! Quickdraw Animation Society is accepting submissions for its 15 GIRAF International Festival of Independent Animation. Animators working in all styles, genres, lengths and media are invited to submit their work for consideration to be shown in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Films can be longform or shorts, hand-drawn or computer animated and artists can be students or established. The only exclusion is any commercial material. For complete details and to submit work, visit the website. Deadline is July 15
Deadlines
Weekly Edited Grant and Residency Deadlines – review the list here.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis Center for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius and the forthcoming Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius.
Signed and doodled copies of these books can be purchased from Praxis Center.
Golden Artist Colors began publishing the Just Paint newsletter in 1989, a source for information about painting techniques, product information, and the latest research in art materials. Now online, JustPaint.org has become one of the most exhaustive resources for technical information in fine art. With the new Just Paint Experience, GOLDEN is expanding the concept to provide artists with quick-reading, studio-oriented content to help bring their visions to life.
When you subscribe to Just Paint Experience (free), you’ll receive access to exclusive content. GOLDEN will also notify you whenever there is new content added to the site.