“…she carries on…”
Perhaps the world has always appeared to be “coming apart at the seams.” Yet somehow, we carry on. How? There are those anonymous multitudes of individuals who quietly, methodically, gracefully pick up the threads of hope and beauty and carry on with living. I am inspired and drawn to the spirit of those who have the energy and fortitude to survive the disaster of flood, famine, war, and man’s inhumanity to man, one day at a time. I am struck especially by images of women who spin, weave and stitch and wrap themselves with garments, clothing and comforting others for the daily walk of life. They carry on. They carry their children, their water buckets, their burdens, their abundance and the beauty of their traditions.
The photographs used in these pieces were harvested from the media. I poured over images, selected and altered them, and inserted them into my work, like windows to a world where I have never walked. I am grateful to the photographers who used their talents, sometimes putting themselves in harm’s way, to bring us images of those we will never physically embrace, though they are just outside our window. – Mary Ann Breisch
On View: from the Series “…she carries on…”, The Three Graces, Stitched Assemblage: Photo transfer on layered vellum, cold press, earth cloth and tulle with graphite. The artist writes, “This image was inspired by a wire photo entitled ‘A day in Iraq.’
I thought the women were supremely universal in their poses…they looked like Greek goddesses or 3 mountains or the 3 visitors from the story of Jacob.”
Mary Ann Breisch is an artist living and working in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio where she serves the ‘heARTspace’ and ‘Front Porch Ministry’ programs.