Sapiens Stories SERIES: ARTIST'S STATEMENTS

I've collected the original posts in order here. Visit the page linked above to see the additional videos and related materials.

Post One: 

Good morning - I'm Frankie Wolf and this is the beginning of my week long artist's talk about the piece I created for this project. If you have not done so yet, I strongly encourage you to scroll back on this page and watch Ed Madden's submission - a poem and video called 'Tomatoes'. My work is based on what he shared with me, especially the plethora of symbolism I found in his video. 

Before I get started, I would like to thank Ed for creating something that I found inspirationally powerful. I would also like to thank Abstract Alexandra for inviting me to participate, along with all of my fellow artists who created the chain before me. And I thank you in advance for spending the week with me to learn about this work. 

Throughout this week, I hope to share a variety of things with you, including work in progress images, various YouTube videos that reflect the subject I am exploring in this piece and information about where you can follow me or learn what I have done in the past. 

I look forward to answering any questions you may have as we go. 

The work I created is called 'Shelved' and explores a social subject that I think is often easily overlooked in this complicated world: caring for our elders. Though this is a road we all must travel, barring an earlier tragedy, for most of society it is easy to forget this section of our community. Especially when we are still young and hardy and brimming with the passions of our own internal worlds. 

But as the years pass by, as older family members cross the veil, as friends move away and lose touch, as the rules of a dynamic society changes, as technology advances, as our bodies begin to weaken and fail... we are all in danger of becoming increasingly invisible. Race, gender, orientation... we all must face this. 

No matter where we start out or how popular we are... there is a chance that we can outlive or lose all of the members of our original support circle, and become dependent on strangers to care about what happens to us. And there is no guarantee that someone will step into that role. 

An example I often mention is the case of Yvette Vickers. You may or may not recognize that name, but she was an actor that is often best remembered as the love interest (Honey Parker) in the classic creature feature 'Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'. Though she was not an A-List actor, the movie is well known enough that most people remember it. 

Despite having more "fame" than most of us in this world, she died a lonely death. But no one can say more than that it happened sometime between 2010 and April of 2011. This is because 2010 was the last time anyone can say that they saw her. And her mummified body was found in 2011. Whenever, however she died alone in her house... no one noticed for as long as a year. 

So nothing... nothing... guarantees that someone will be there for us in the end, when we may cross the veil alone and afraid. And how many years of loneliness and lack of stimulation before even that? 

Are you young today? Middle aged? Time goes so fast. Will you be alone for years at the end of your time? 

This, along with an even heavier topic - elder abuse - is the subject of the art I am sharing with you this week. I hope you will stay around to absorb and think about what I am presenting. 

Thank you for your time.

Post Two:

The way this project was designed, when each artist completed their work, they set up a meeting to share the work with the follow-up artist. While Ed Madden was sharing his poem and video with me, thoughts and images began to tumble around in my head. As soon as our meeting completed, I scribbled out this thumbnail sketch. As it turns out, the final work didn't drift very far at all from the original concept. (see 'Thumbnail' image above)

Post Three:

A work in progress (WIP) photo. Creating the rows outside of the shadowbox in the canvas. (see 'Rows in the Barren Field' image above)

Post Four:

Something that I picked up from Ed's video was that there were a couple of scarecrows in the garden. I took that idea and made it a symbol in my own work, representing the elderly being "greyed out" - stiff, unmoving, unacknowledged over time. The elder that I painted here is wearing vibrant, youthful colors (inspired by the elders in the documentaries 'Advanced Style" and 'Iris'). She is boldly creative, styling her hair more for artistic effect than standard trends. She wears bright statement jewelry - polished stones that click pleasantly as she moves, announcing her presence when she enters a space. Her shawl is generous and warm, ready to embrace another - to offer comfort as requested. Because she still feels all of these things. 

Many times I tell younger folk that you don't necessarily change who you are on the inside. You still feel like yourself... you can have the same interests, passions and attractions at 53 as you did at 23. You change on the outside, but your internal world can still be quite vigorous. In fact, you can "forget" that you aren't still young at times. 

But as you can see, her legs and edges of her skirt have started to reflect the forced "greying out" she is experiencing from the surrounding community. It is creeping up, making her over time into the stiff, unremembered, unwanted scarecrows shelved near her. She is becoming silent. Still. Invisible. Her legs are now hard, wooden, useless things. If the process is unchecked, she will eventually exist only vaguely in a field outside of the hustle and bustle of life. Her purpose uncertain. She is boxed in for no other reason than that she outlived the support system of her youth. 

This elder is still very active mentally. She holds in her arms another symbol I took from Ed's video - tomatoes - that represent here the Gifts of Age. Whereas the Gifts of Youth include (among other things) something that fades - dewiness and fertility - the Gifts of Age are cumulative, more enduring and also valuable. They include wisdom, storytelling, historical archives, experience, creativity, advice and support. She cradles them gently, carefully, tenderly. Like infants. They are in fact, her offspring birthed from the essence of passing years. She is only waiting for other minds to accept her offering. 

I wanted to try to make the elder a bit racially ambiguous because I think that it is important for every viewer to be able to see themselves here. To know that they will, in some manner, walk this same road. Ed's poem had references to a youth not talking to his father while there was still time. And the recognition of such possible regrets. This is a narrative that happens every day. Is happening right now, in fact. In this moment, more Gifts of Age are being lost. Forever. (see 'Elder Woman' and 'Elder Woman Face' images above)

Post Five:

Some more early WIP images. Building the "crop rows" on the canvas. (see 'Crop Rows 1-3' images above)

Post Six:

The left side of 'Shelved' has the kind of shadowbox I often include in my work recently (which is why this piece falls under the overall umbrella of the Shadowbox Anomalous series). In this one I've included the scarecrow reflections that I picked up from Ed's video. 

They represent those elders who are forgotten by their families and the rest of society. Perhaps they became a burden as their minds and bodies weakened or perhaps they outlived everyone they knew and depended on. 

Perhaps they live alone - lucky if they are financially stable, because many are not. Perhaps they were warehoused somewhere at some point, by their will or no. Shelved away, which is the origin of the title. Some places are nicer than others, obviously, and if someone doesn't have the financial means they could end up in a great deal of distress for their final days. 

In this piece I used various shades of grey to, again, reflect that everyone walks this road and anyone can wind up in terrible circumstances without someone around who cares what happens to them, no matter where they start out in life. 

Grey also reflects the concept of how easy it is to be greyed out. Forgotten. Invisible to the rest of society. I painted patterned cloth to hint at the vibrancy of their past... perhaps they were talented in the arts, perhaps they sacrificed for their county, perhaps they taught generations of children, perhaps they were filled with laughter that made everyone's day better, perhaps they invented something that changed the world, perhaps they gave up everything else to care for their families, perhaps they took care of someone you knew when they were in the hospital... 

We all have stories, fine stories, interesting stories and everyday those stories are lost to time.

The patterns are grey now too. 

The scarecrows are stiff and wooden, bound by their increasing frailties as age progresses. Their Gifts of Age dropped to their feet, unharvested, left to rot. They are surrounded by the grey rows of a barren field, which also visually become the bars of a restricted life. But are those fields actually barren, or just neglected? (see 'Scarecrows on a Shelf' image above) 

Post Seven:

WIP images for 'Shelved": painting the crop rows. (see 'Painting Crop Rows 1-4' images above)

Post Eight:

As I discussed earlier, I utilized the tomatoes inspired by Ed's video in this piece to symbolize the Gifts of Age: experience, wisdom, creativity, historical archives and so forth. 

Whereas the figure on the right of the canvas is still cradling her Gifts... offering them to any with the insight to appreciate them, those on this side have already been greyed out. They are only wooden scarecrows now unable to protect their Gifts. The tomatoes drop to the ground, unharvested... starting to rot and be lost forever. 

If you look closely, you may be able to see the spots on some tomatoes where the rot is taking hold. 

A tragedy of lost knowledge. (see 'Tomatoes' images 1-4 above) 

Post Nine:

Here are some of the tomatoes I made for 'Shelved' that represent lost Gifts of Age... the ones that are starting to show rot. I mixed these in with tomatoes that were still untouched on the canvas so that the viewer would have to look carefully to find them. (see 'Rotting Tomatoes' image above)

Post Ten:

WIP images of the Elder Scarecrows. (see 'Elder Scarecrows' images 1-4 above)

Post Eleven:

The faces of the elders in 'Shelved' are cracked and worn as in life. I wanted to crack the paint to represent them as the wooden scarecrows they've become in a society focused on youth... but also to reflect the natural aging process. 

With new resources, our society has become obsessed with holding on to impossible youth. There is no longer the acceptance of aging without shame... increasingly people are expected to physically compete with individuals decades younger. That's a lot of extra pressure for such an impossible task. 

There's a lot of money to be made from "youth maintenance". Companies in this field have financial motivation to make you feel ugly and unacceptable. Pushing "youth" gets people grinding on an unending treadmill to nowhere, throwing money down a bottomless pit. So advertisements, films, pop culture and the elite celebrities will all work to create the narrative that if you just invest in certain things and spend all your money... you can look young until you die. 

All this leads to is another layer of stress and unhappiness when obviously this isn't true. Whether some sort of gene therapy will be discovered in the future... it isn't here yet. And may never be. Or may never be affordable for the average person. 

Here's something true right now. All those perfect faces and bodies you see all over mainstream and social media are "tricks of the trade" most of the time. I was a stage techie in my youth. I've seen celebrities up close both with and without their masks. You know what? In most cases they are just like the rest of us. 

I've seen models with blemishes, enlarged pores and uneven skin, dancers with torn up legs and stomach fat, actors with scars, dry skin, circles under their eyes and cellulite. 

Angles and lighting and makeup and girdles and thick hose and so on... those are the things that trick you into thinking they look so much better than you. 

And they are groomed for entertainment purposes... so a great deal of money goes into hair extensions, veneers, facial peels, laser treatment, personal trainers, personal chefs and so forth. Things that are hard for average folk to afford. 

But it's all just another grand illusion. (see 'Cracked' images 1-4 above)

Post Twelve:

WIP images of the miniature tomatoes. (see 'Making Tomatoes' images 1-2 above)

Post Thirteen:

Some say it's odd, but I like to finish the backs of my canvases with a covering and trim. With this one, I also included Ed's poem which is the seed from which this grew. (see 'Covered Back' images 1-2 above)

Post Fourteen:

The shadowbox portion of this work can be perceived as a shelf in the upright orientation - such as a cellar shelf stacked with jars of canned tomatoes. But if the viewer visually reorients the canvas to a flat position, it can be viewed as a grave in an empty field. In the upright position, the rows of the field can duplicate the bars of confinement. 

Upright, the scarecrows are in their empty field, warehoused somewhere and waiting for the end. Horizontal, their mass grave. 

The figure on the right has a white box etched around her. This is an echo of the grave from the left. Her hands are folded under her gifts. Her eyes closed. Is she resting? Relaxed? Or has she already crossed the veil unnoticed by society, her arms folded in the traditional manner? 

Though with enough money there are places where the elderly can find comfort, care and safety for their last years, there are also places that are the opposite of the ideal. Places where those who struggle to care for themselves are warehoused - stored - in some cases neglected or abused. Left to die.  

Without someone to care what happens to them, to check on their welfare and fight for their safety and comfort, it can be a horrible end. Are you really sure you will have someone to check on you in your end days? (see 'Shadowbox' images 1-2 above)

Post Fifteen:

WIP of the Elder. (see 'the Elder' images 1-4 above)

Post Sixteen:

This is a photo of the moment when Ed Madden met with me to share and explain his work. I want to once again thank Ed for working with me to give me such a good foundation from which to launch my own creation. (see 'Ed Madden' image above)

Post Seventeen:

Thank you to everyone who spent the last seven days exploring the inspiration and subject of my mixed media piece, 'Shelved', with me. Also, many thanks to Ed Madden for his poem and video, and all of the artists who submitted work for this art chain.  

This is the final piece in the group project 'Whisper to a Shout: Social Issues'. 

I believe that Abstract Alexandra intends to keep the project going with a brand new roster of artists based on the Pandemic theme, so if you'd like to see more, stay tuned to this Page. 

As for myself, I am moving forward to other things and you can find me online in the various links I included in the post below working on those mentioned projects and more. 

Goodnight everyone. And take care. (see 'Final Elder' image above)