Grief and Loss: the Face of Fire

Posted on by Diversions LA

Grief and Loss: The Face of Fire – Genie Davis

There has been an enormous amount of loss and grief throughout Los Angeles, as artists and other creatives have lost homes, studios, work, livlihoods,  and family history.

It is unprecented: isolating due to air quality and the heaviness of sorrow; galvinizing, as in the outpouring of community support; infiuriating due to society’s collective ignorance of climate change and the politicization of even the natural landscape.  Still ahead of us are spiked rent increases, the tangled web of insurance and government bureaucracy, and the immediate loss to the art community of canceled shows, diminished sales, and actual artworks.

All we can do is mourn, and express our inchoate longing for the life that came before, and hope for a time that comes after.  All we can do that is, except to express our generosity of spirit, plan fundraising efforts, respond to Go Fund Me accounts of loved ones and friends, donate goods and foods and a helping hand.

It is with that in mind that I want to suggest that anyone with a personal – or a friend in the art community’s – GFM or other fundraising platform that benefits this community, please mention it in the comments section.

Here are a few to start off:

For all the non-human victims out there please give generously to: Pasadena Humane Society  

Drop off donations:

Torrance Art Museum, TAM. Per museum director Max Presneill:

“To help where we can Torrance Art Museum (TAM) will be accepting donations (in goods, not money) for those families devastated by the Los Angeles fires. You can drop off things you think they might need to TAM: Tues 13 – Sat 18, from 10am-4pm. Please ring the bell at the staff entrance (not Museum entrance) around the back, to drop off your donations: 3320 CIVIC CENTER Drive, Torrance, CA 90503

The Torrance Theater Company will also be accepting donations at the same times: 1316 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501

We are especially looking for:
– Clothes and shoes
– Personal hygiene items and sanitary products – new toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, diapers, etc
– Tinned food, bottled water, dry goods, snacks, baby formula
– Blankets, sleeping bags, pillows
– Charging cables and extension cables
– Books, puzzles, games, cards

These items will be delivered by TAM staff to the Bendix Building at 1206 Maple Ave, downtown LA, and available for those hit by the fires to collect on Sunday 19th January, 10am-4pm in suite 800, on the 8th floor.”

Los Angeles Makery

  • What’s available: Tools, supplies, and materials for artists who lost studios.
    Items such as paints, canvases, cameras, paper, and more are available for free.
  • Contact to donate or receive supplies: thelosangelesmakery@gmail.com | Text 213-392-2611
  • 260 S. Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo adjacent)

Superchief Gallery LA

  • Collecting supplies and essential items for fire victims, including art materials.
  • Location: 1965 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90011

Thinkspace Projects

  • Collecting supplies for the Red Cross and distributing N95 masks.
  • Location: 4217 and 4207 W Jefferson Blvd

Per ArtShare LA:

Below is a list of additional resources, spaces, and grants available to help you recover and continue creating:

Temporary Space and Resources

Immersive Art Collective

  • What’s available: Temporary storage for salvaged artwork, instruments, and more.
    • Large space with internet access, air purifiers, seating, tables, heating, and restroom facilities. Small kitchen area with tea, coffee pots, refrigerator, and microwave.
  • Location: 1035 S Olive St, Los Angeles, CA 90015 (south of L.A. Live)
  • Contact: 310-894-3638 | info@immersiveartcollective.org
  • Cost: Free

Emergency Grants and Financial Support

Emergency Micro-Grants for Artists

Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+) Emergency Assistance

Rauschenberg Emergency Medical Grant

  • The Rauschenberg Medical Emergency Grants program provides one-time grants of up to $5,000 for recent unexpected medical, dental, and mental health emergencies to artists in financial need* who are creating in the visual arts, film/video/electronic/digital arts, and choreography.

Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

  • The Foundation provides financial resources up to $50,000 for visual artists to create new work, acquire supplies, rent studio space, prepare for exhibitions, attend a residency and offset living expenses.
  • Apply here: https://pkf.org/apply/

Entertainment Community Fund Fund Entertainment Assistance Program

Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant

  • Financial aid for painters, sculptors, and printmakers who have experienced catastrophic events.
  • Applicants must demonstrate 10+ years of mature work. Grants range from $5,000 to $15,000.

Artists’ Fellowship, Inc.

  • Provides financial assistance for visual artists facing unexpected emergencies, natural disasters, or extreme hardship.
  • Open to active artists who make their livelihood through the sale of artworks.

LA Art World Fire Relief Fund

  • Mutual aid fund to assist artists and art workers with severe loss or damage to homes, studios, or property.
  • Apply or offer aid: LA Art World Fire Relief Fund

MusiCares

  • Support for music professionals impacted by the fires. MusiCares provides crisis relief, preventive care, recovery resources, and need-based financial assistance for people across all music professions.
  • Contact: musicaresrelief@musicares.org | 1-800-687-4227

Mental Health and Social Services

We Rise LA

  • Offers a 24/7 Help Line and links to mental health resources.
    Get Help Now: Call 1-800-854-7771 or text “HELP’’  to 741741 anytime for a crisis counselor.

Mental Health America of Los Angeles

Los Angeles County Arts and Mental Health Resources

  • Joint resources from the Departments of Arts and Culture and Public Health.

THIS IS THE SPACE TO CONTACT ME TO ADD GO FUND ME ACCOUNTS

Go Fund Me accounts shared with me as of this writing:

John Knuth family 

Camilla and Josh Taylor

Eva Montealegre

Ann Storc and family

Margaret Griffith and the Carter family 

LA Yoga Aid (instructors and other community members who have lost homes)

I will cut and paste other links as they come in and add to this post.

You can also reach me personally with this information via email, genie@diversionsLA.com.

Sending love out to those who are experiencing the devastation, and to those who are processing it, lending a helping hand, and hoping for a reborn and better tomorrow.

  • Genie Davis; photos, Genie Davis

My Ugly/Beautiful Friends: Nothing but Beautiful from Dani Dodge

Posted on by Diversions LA

56461033_10216908207244634_2103808275890831360_n

56580459_10216866832850300_7696714409569157120_n

artist Dani Dodge, above

Now at Shoebox Projects through April 14th, Dani Dodge offers mixed media works in a tribute to the Joshua Tree that is profoundly moving and beautiful.  The exhibition, My Ugly/Beautiful Friends, is comprised of two compelling parts.

Dani Dodge at Shoebox Joshua Trees

54520926_10216866829690221_871579195140997120_n

With “Wielding Swords,” Dodge deconstructs the Joshua Tree spikes into separate stories of survival, love, and loneliness. Much like the human body, these spikes age; they metamorphose, going from upright to drooping to being absorbed as a protective coating for the plant itself.

56120073_10216866833330312_6566798716894707712_n

56304287_10216866841250510_4054398159047098368_n

Here, working with mixed mediums in dimensional wall sculptures sheathed in thick plastic that are alternately chartreuse, clear, and hot pink that also forms the shapes, Dodge offers seeds, beads, glittery fabric, even film shoot permits as a part of her reprsentations.

55892475_10216866838810449_572915862390964224_n

There is – or was – (Dodge is selling out this show) – an entire wall, a quilt of sculptural images on display like a surreal forest of these fierce and wonderful desert leaves. 

55939877_10216866835610369_4334499227259371520_n

Beautiful and evocative as this work is, the other part of her exhibition resonates even more strongly.

In “Symbiosis 1-12,” the artist explores the Joshua Tree’s ugly/beauty and its symbiotic relationship with the yucca moth, on which the trees rely for pollination; in turn, the moth depends on the Joshua Trees for their survival.

56332482_10216866840490491_2651184750911291392_n

Using her own photographs, adding her own notes and painted art work, she adds a moving depth to the story of the trees, their strange beauty and toughness, and the somewhat bizarre moth itself which sports tentacle-like fronds from its mouth.

56161368_10216866834370338_6803729973598224384_n

Dodge explains her process in creating these works. “Over the past four months or so, I had been photographing these plants that captivated me while doing residences at the Mojave National Preserve and the Prime Desert Woodland Preserve in Lancaster, Calif. I loved the photographs, but as an artist I wanted to say more about the plants than I could capture in a photo. I wanted to simultaneously emphasize their strength and fragility at the same time I explored their awkward beauty.”
56252752_10216866839690471_3101279572432257024_n
And so Dodge added additional, lush elements. She rims some of the trees with gold leaf; utilizes spray paint; incorporates beads. She used hand-cut stencils, paint pens and acrylic paint to incorporate the yucca moth into her works, and to further place emphasis on what she calls the “ugly/beautiful nature of my friends;” she crafts what she calls “S.O.S. notes” for their survival.
56520115_10216866840170483_5847020970417586176_n
These are deeply moving works, reminiscent of religious icons in her treatment, not just because of the touches of gold, but in her reverence for these mysterious, otherworldly trees. 
56218278_10216866834210334_1929139420615671808_n
“When I wanted to push past what the photographic image could say, I decided to use a symbol of beauty and wealth: gold. Specifically gold leaf on the sides of each work and then incorporated into the photograph in some of the pieces,” she says. “Each time I go into the desert, those arms welcome me. I wanted the gold to symbolize the beauty some do not see in the branches of these plants that were called hideous by some early explorers.”
 56523156_10216866833890326_4647092985786269696_n

 

According to the artist “This installation is an ode to the Joshua Tree’s ability to adapt and survive for so long, and a prayer that it may continue.” That prayer may be necessary indeed due to both climate change and the trees’ slow reproduction and dispersal rate. 

55905127_10216866840090481_9045968936679505920_n

She adds “To me, the Joshua Tree simultaneously symbolizes survival and fragility. It demonstrates the power of adaptation, while also illustrating the danger of climate change (even) to the most adaptable species. This plant also is one of the most ugly/beautiful pieces of nature on our planet.”

56494427_10157482912242847_3285220832602750976_n

Photo above by L. Aviva Diamond

The Joshua tree was given its name by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. Its unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer. Joshua’s own name has a meaning: Yahweh is salvation. And to many, including Dodge, the trees represent their own form of salvation, redemption, and resilience.
“To me,” she says, “those akimbo branches are like the arms of broken souls welcoming me into their fold.”
56402114_10215944466877420_2259860080025403392_n
Photo above by Thalassa Dimitra Skandali
Dodge creates immersive, surrealist environments and installations from Los Angeles to Stockholm. A member of the Durden and Ray collective in Los Angeles, and alumnae of A.I.R. gallery in New York, you can read more about her at http://www.danidodge.com
55906352_10216866834890351_9123177566599905280_n
And go see this show with a prayer in your heart and wings on your feet. We did.
Shoebox Projects is located in DTLA at The Brewery Complex in Lincoln Heights.
– Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis; two additional photos: by L. Aviva Diamond, and from Dimitra Skandali, as noted above.