OUT OF THE ASHES
By Jeanne McCartin
Portsmouth Herald News, NH
Sept 6 2006
The Haley Farm Gallery is turning its attention toward collective
and individual healing. Its group exhibition "Colors of Healing" will
commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11 with images of individuals’,
cities’ and a country’s effort to come to grips with catastrophe.
"I was not on Ground Zero," says gallery owner Jackie Abramian.
"Others I know traveled there. I never went, probably because as an
Armenian, I’ve had my fill of pictures of genocide and carnage." And
yet she experienced the horror of that day, as did most in her country
"" the vulnerability, and the sense the world was pulled out from
underneath you, she says. It’s the same feeling individuals experience
when their personal world is torn by tragedy. "Healing" is about both,
dealing collectively and individually with life’s hardest struggles,
says Abramian.
"I think when you stand before these paintings you have no choice but
to stand in honor of those who perished and helped, the survivors
and those that pulled them out. "¦ But, it is a tribute to all
survivors." And whether the exhibit’s individual works bring the
collective crisis or that of an individual to mind, "It brings the
tragedy home "¦ and just for a moment you can imagine what it was like
for someone to go through such a thing. "¦ It’s also very meditative,
very beautiful."
Abramian was quite moved when she came across a painting by Christine
Morgan on the Web. "It brings tears to your eyes," says Abramian. The
image that struck her is of a firefighter’s boots, with a firefighter’s
hat set on top of them, both painted in gray, and staged before an
American flag. It speaks to the individual cost, that of a family,
and underscores a nation’s pain, she says.
Abramian contacted Morgan and said, "I have to have it." They struck
a deal and the painting will be exhibited, though not for sale.
Prints will be available.
This exhibition "will shake you," says Abramian, moving on to her
next example, the work of Jean Holabird of New York City. Holabird’s
loft is located a few blocks from the former World Trade Center. "She
had a front seat view of the towers. "¦ She actually witnessed the
towers coming down, she could see them from (her apartment) windows,"
says Abramian. "As a result of the trauma, she needed to paint all
the fear, and the trauma out of her system."
Ten of her works will be on display. In addition her book, "Out of
the Ruins," a collection of her paintings coupled with works by 20th
century poets, will be on sale.
The work of artist Madeleine P. Hopkins, of Moody, Maine, will not
focus on 9/11, but on a personal struggle. Her story is amazing,
says Abramian, "a real-life trauma. It could be a movie. "¦ She had
(cerebral hemorrhage), that put her out. She was pregnant. When she
came to, she had a child. She didn’t know the child or those around
her. She couldn’t talk, or move." Hopkins’ healing process was slow,
Abramian explains. Through it all "she kept drawing and scribbling."
This personal trauma and 9/11 share a core; everything you know is
gone and you have to rebuild. The healing process is the same, she
says. "It’s why the title of the exhibit is ~PThe Color of Healing.’"
On Sept. 6, Hopkins will read from her book, "Harbinger "" Memories
of Recovery," at the gallery’s "Tea Time Art," from 3 to 5 p.m.
Artist Wasan Al Kabi is from Iraq. She and her family fled the country
in 2001, and settled in Amman, where she continues to live.
Kabi will have four pieces in the show. "Why? We see the connection,"
says Abramian. "9/11 brought about the war in Iraq. It’s not just
New York City. It’s not just about America. It went global. These
paintings, by an Iraq woman are somber, are relevant. They’re
desperate, in response to 9/11." The show will also include works by
Ann Legg of, Kennebunkport Maine, and by Ross Saryan of Armenia.
During the "Colors of Healing" opening reception an ongoing slide show
of Ground Zero shot by Michael Clark of Bath, Maine, was displayed. A
firefighter with special task force training, Clark was sent to assist
at Ground Zero the day of the attack. Both he and Peter Johnson of
Kittery, who helped transport people after the attack, will be honored
the day before during a private reception at the gallery.
Haley Farm will have additional related events during the exhibition.
On Sept. 9 there will be a panel discussion, "Surviving Trauma," from
3 to 5 p.m. Brown University professors of psychology, Dr. Vitali
Ianko (researcher of post-traumatic stress and author) and Dr. Anait
Azarian (clinical psychologist) will present and discuss their work
with children survivors of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, and 9/11
in New York City. They will share a collection of children’s artwork
created before and after therapy.
On Sept. 23, poets Robert Gibbons, John Perrault and Cicely Buckley
will read from the anthology "The Other Side of Sorrow," from 3 to
5 p.m.
Abramian says she has no profound words for describing the show;
rather she wants to step aside and let it be said by the artists who
have tried to find ways to heal from personal and global tragedy.
"This is not a political exhibit. It’s one of reflection and
questions. What are the lessons we’ve learned? Have we learned
anything? Maybe we have. It’s a collective healing process we have
to go through. What better way than the visual art."
What: Colors of Healing: Lessons from 9/11, five years later Where:
Haley Farm Gallery 178 Haley Road, Kittery, Maine When: through Oct. 5,
regular gallery hours Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sundays by chance or by appointment.
Contact: (207) 439-2669, [email protected],
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www.haleygallery.com