What's Up with the Hands?
What does it look like when all people are empowered to participate in our democracy? That is the central question of the Battery Powered fall theme on Healthy Democracy. It was also the question we posed to Elizabeth McConaughy-Oliver when we asked this young, local artist to create an original piece of art for our theme. Her musings on the topic and her experience as a young woman in America informed the bold and energetic piece that personifies our theme.
Elizabeth is a student at the California College of the Arts, entering her final year and half of school. Over the summer, she taught art at Fairyland in Oakland to young people.
We asked her to share her thoughts on creating the piece for Healthy Democracy and what it meant to her.
Colleen: Could you summarize what this artwork represents and how you came to this concept for the Healthy Democracy theme?
Elizabeth: Thinking about Healthy Democracy was an interesting process because I wanted to capture an entanglement of a community without specific backgrounds of people. I wanted it just to be people without all the labels we’ve created for different groups of people and ourselves. I found it important to keep it a bit ambiguous, having you relate with whatever you as the viewer wants.
Colleen: What does the concept of a Healthy Democracy mean to you?
Elizabeth: Healthy Democracy is very important to me because we live in a time where it is extremely important to be aware of what is going on in the world and staying connected with what you believe to be morally appropriate. I feel like a lot of people have become desensitized to what it means for the human race to come together and work together to make our world better. That’s really what I wanted to show in the work. The hands all interacting in different but collaborative ways embodies that idea.
Colleen: Tell us about your artwork right now and what is influencing it.
Elizabeth: Right now, I’m looking at my art as a way to relax and see it as something that is ephemeral. Sometimes I put a lot of pressure on myself, to make everything perfect, even sketches. I really think being able to work as an art teacher at Fairyland this summer has helped me progress as an artist. As well as helping me see that when I can chill out my art is so much better. I’m ready to go to school with a whole new outlook on my future in the arts. I’m blessed to say that art is apart of my everyday life; without it, I don’t know where I would be.