Renaissance Art & Design Gallery and Heard Gallery Present
Epiphany V: Women of Color Speak

Renaissance Art & Design Gallery & Heard Gallery are pleased to announce the fifth annual art exhibition, "Epiphany: Women of Color Speak." The exhibition runs from Dec. 3 through Dec. 26 at the Gallery at the Piano Factory, 791 Tremont Street, in Boston. The Exhibit will be open from noon to 5pm Saturdays and Sundays.

A Gallery talk will be held on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2:30 p.m. with the artists present. This event is free and open to the public.

The "Epiphany" exhibitions began in 2000 and are designed to highlight works of art created exclusively by women of color who have overcome obstacles to become or remain artists. This year the theme is "Our Vision of the World," as explored by 9 local and international artists.

Featured artists include: Crystal Brown of Natick; Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper, Jamaica; Dipa Donde, India; Ekua Holmes, (curator) Roxbury; Lana Jackson, Mattapan; Diana Monroy, Colombia; Laura Palmer Edwards, Waltham; Karen Powell, Milton; and Gilda Sharpe-Etteh,Jamaica.

Ekua Holmes, curator and director of the Renaissance Art & Design Gallery, says, "As women of color, we must create what without us, could not be created. Each artist was invited to share their vision of the world-the inner world, the outer world, the real world, or the world of dreams. The interpretation was left up to each of them to explore."

Renaissance Art & Design Gallery has brought culturally significant art to the Boston area for over 20 years. The roster includes local and internationally acclaimed artists and emerging and established artists.

This year's exhibit will be open from noon to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment at other times. The exhibit will be closed on Christmas, Saturday, Dec. 25. All artists are available for interviews. For details, contact Ekua Holmes at 617-262-1988 or 617-780-9765, or via email at ejdesign@tiac.net.

Epiphany V: Women of Color Speak
Exhibition Concept: Our Vision of the World

As women artists of color, we must create what without us could not be created. What does the world we live in look like? What does your ideal world look like? Share your vision of your inner world, your outer world, the real world, or your dream world. The interpretation is up to you. Our voices need to be heard, our visions need to be shared.

Crystal Brown
Art gives me a sense of accomplishment, joy, and freedom. Each creation becomes a journey of delight through innovation, meditation, and a sense of inner peace. Designs of my work depict two-dimensional montage art and poetry that celebrate African-American history as well as the contemporary. I intend to further explore topics concerning humanity in hopes that the viewer will be inspired by the art. www.cyb4ever.com

Laura Palmer Edwards
My work suggests three distinct state of being. "The Centered Woman," who is confident and wise; the "Up/Down Woman," who persists, despite being stymied by violence, glass ceilings, societies changing expectations, racist institutions and finally; "Prayer Pose," which is resigning oneself to the Creator's plan, and petitioning for one's hopes and dreams in this life. laurape2002@comcast.net

Dipa Donde
I AM THE WORLD: My vision of the world begins with myself and connects to the entire universe. I am as small as a tiny cell and as large as the Milky Way. Made up of air, ether, fire, water and earth, I am influenced by my five senses of smell, sound, sight, taste and touch. Identified by my mind, intelligence, will and ego, I am a part of the whole universe and yet I am complete by myself.

My inner world consists of thoughts, feelings and emotions of things that I've experienced in the world outside me. When I encounter a world full of strife and tensions, my inner world reflects the chaos and I am confused. Anxiety and depressions tear through my mind and my body is depleted of vital energy. I stand weak and vulnerable and am open to the forces of nature. dipa@kalaadhar.com

Lana Jackson
Living in a culture that idolizes youth, beauty, strength, and physicality, my work also examines illness, personal weaknesses, rebellion, deterioration, survival and acceptance. By examining these areas, I choose to celebrate this process of becoming which we call -humanity.

Each piece in this exhibition, My Vision of the World, is a component of my most recent body of work, "180°". One hundred and eighty degrees from what I've always know to be the right way, my right of passage at 65, the right "viewpoint" on family values, integrity, love and war, and a religion that taught tolerance of "other". You know, other people, other cultures, other sexual orientation. The world today, has a "limit" to tolerance. Things used to fit a pattern. They don't now. Are you from a "red" state or a "blue" state? Are we less patriotic painting a blue-white-and red flag?-or must it be red-white-and blue?

The work, through abstract use of texture, shapes color and line, chronicles a world that is doing a 180 on us. And with all change, we'll rebel, adjust, survive-and possibly thrive. lanajackson@verizon.net

Karen Powell
"My ideal world is one in which every moment is treasured. A hand on a hip, the bend of a smile, the organic perfection of a sunflower hiding in a little girl's braid are proof that beauty lies in everything. No moment is ever too small to be celebrated. Lean in, look closely: the emotion and the magic of my pieces are in the details."
powelldesign@comcast.net

Lucilda Dassardo Cooper
Gender issues became more of a focus of my art while living in India and travelling around the subcontinent in the late 1990s. Five of the resulting "Veiled Presence" series of 15 oil paintings on canvas represented the U.S. in India‚s Ninth Triennale and were displayed at the National Gallery of Art in New Delhi. Abstract painter Sam Gilliam and assemblage artist Louise Nevelson previously represented the U.S. in the Trienniale.

South Asians are enamoured of the pieces as testimony to the elegance and modesty of their women. One woman suffering from cancer saw one of the images and said it made her feel better. But some Westerners are discomfitted by seeing human forms without faces. There was quite spirited and lively discussion among diplomats in India and one prominent American diplomat confessed to having his perception of the role of women in the region changed by the emotional impact of the work. The power of art to impact the psyche is well known, but the perceptions through which we view the works create a dialogue about art that resonates with us.

I go through the world documenting my experiences as works of art and hope my journeys and thoughts create a better and more beautiful world. A great sage exhorts us to fill the mind with beauty and uplifting thoughts so there is no room for ugliness and depression to take root. This has been my
experience. lucilda@earthlink.net

Ekua Holmes
In my current work, I am drawing upon childhood experiences to examine my values and upbringing from an adult perspective. Working in collage links me to my past. As an only child, I spent a great deal of time alone. To keep me busy, my grandmother would sit me at her desk with a child-safe pair of scissors and her recent junk mail. From these tools, I would fashion characters and scenery. Quietly absorbed in my own thoughts, the world of reality would disappear and the world of my hopes, dreams and memories would emerge. It is the same process now. Sometimes the key to our future, lies in our past.

Today one of my favorite tools is newspaper. Handled properly, it becomes a versatile stock that takes paint well and tears easily. I choose the pieces carefully for content and visual texture. The newspaper marks my work as having been created NOW. It dates the work in a subtle way, making each piece like a time capsule to be discovered by generations to come.

This is a need for us-to somehow communicate to future generations what life is like today-what we are feeling and thinking, our struggles and victories. Visual art holds important clues to understanding the history of mankind. Through the images of flora and fauna, political battles, emerging cities and lost worlds, the artist keeps the details of the changing landscape of time and space.

What remains the same is our HUMANITY. Our pain, hurt, hate, love, loss and joy-the adoring eyes of a mother, the angelic sleep of a child; the proud stance of a soldier, the fervor of a saint in prayer.

When an artist captures this humanity in their work, they will always find a conversation with eternity.
Ejdesign@tiac.net /website: www.ejdesignsonline.com

Diana Monroy
My work is about humanity and reflects a lot of feelings and conflicts that affect us all. It is also related to the problematic situation that exists in my country of Columbia today. These figures are charged with different emotions and tensions that we experience in our daily lives.

Gilda Sharpe-Etteh
"I thrive to use my artistic expression to interpret our complex world in a manner that all cultures can appreciate. Sometimes it is through situations and sometimes through dreams and reflections on childhood memories."