ARTIST'S STATEMENT

For several years, my art has been inspired by what I call the aftermath of the Shoah*. This odyssey that I find myself on, has taught me much about those who have suffered trauma in the shadow of the most heinous crime in human history. Additionally, I have learned much about myself and my own need for healing after the Shoah.

I have watched myself on this journey and observed how each step has changed both my art and me as well. My paintings are about healing. The intention is to provide an arena for my viewer to find his/her own pain and thus begin to heal. Before the healing process can begin, one must first identify the pain. A field of abstract imagery permits the viewer to tap into his/her own creativity and identify emotional responses. In any healing process, the wound must be protected. Hence I began to layer papers that surrounded and would 'protect' a central image.

The phenomenon of memory is also a recurring theme in my art. At present it is tied to a recent trip to the Ukraine where I stood at the mass grave where my father's family is buried. The eternal presence of absence is a concept that I continue to explore. Furthermore, if one was not present at an event, I believe it is one's previous experiential memory that contributes to the construction of a story about that event.

As a child of Jewish immigrants to Canada from the Ukraine, it never occurred to me that someday I would turn to the process of seeking reconciliation between Christians and Jews through dialogue and artistic imagery. Nevertheless, reconciliation with my Christian brethren is a recurring theme in my current work. This has come about as a result of my appointment as visiting lecturer at a Christian seminary. Since 1996, I have been a visiting faculty member at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. There I have found an arena of compassionate and understanding brethren with whom I can dialogue about faith-----theirs and mine, after the Shoah.

The course that I teach: Spirituality and the Holocaust is a reminder of the fact that the Shoah* wreaked havoc with people of all faiths. We all need to heal. It was a universal event that changed the course of history and it must never be forgotten. That is my passion: to remember and to heal----others, and myself with my art as the vehicle.

carolyn h. manosevitz mfa
January, 2005

*Holocaust

 

carolyn h. manosevitz studio
p.o. box 3705   basalt, co.81621
e-mail: chm888@carolynmanosevitz.com