Living Canvases
By Grace Carballo ‘17
I’m a big believer in this quote because I don’t know if I’ve ever been right about someone based on my first impression of them. And while it is very easy to assume the worst about the person who cuts you off on the highway or the person who honks at you when you don’t turn right away or the person who wrongs you in other frustrating non-driving situations (Can you tell I hate driving?), there is probably a lot more to that person that would justify their actions if only you knew a little bit about their life. Everyone has a story and all you have to do is ask a few questions and listen.
The stories I most love hearing often come from the elders in my life. My grandparents and Great Aunt Frannie never fail to keep me entertained and I’d be a fool not to listen to their wise words. They’ve got a lot more life experience than me- over 6 decades worth. It’s a shame that in our fast paced society, our elders are often overlooked or neglected. I’m in the school of thought, perhaps because I myself am an old soul, that people, like fine wine and fancy cheese, get better with age. Grandma and Papa, for example, are the most generous, helpful, fun-loving people I know. I aspire to be as magnificent as these crazy kids!
My tremendous respect for the old people in my own life made me want to get involved with Living Canvases, which I believe began as a collaboration between the Roski School of Design and Davis School of Gerontology, neither of which I am a student in but I would love to be if I could take unlimited units or stay in school forever.
The website (http://www.livingcanvases.org/) of Living Canvases describes the program as “an intergenerational life review and art-making program designed to bring together younger and older individuals and the community as a whole.”
The elder participants, in a series of three Living Canvases workshops, described a turning point (or several) of their lives. Then, the artist volunteers, like myself, received an audio recording of their story, a short description, a sketch of the turning point by the participant, and a photo of him or her, as well. Using their turning point or points as our inspiration, our task was to to portray their story, with really no limitations.
Carolyn, whose amazing life I did my best to portray through acrylic paint on canvas, had several key turning points in her life. I listened to her recording multiple times and couldn’t decide which to represent, so just chose to work them all into one painting.
She grew up in Memphis when segregation was still legal and her first turning point was when she came to LA at age 11 and was amazed that she could go to the Orpheum Theater through the main entrance and sit wherever she pleased. Los Angeles was “a place where you could go anyplace”, which I titled the painting because I love that quote.
She also described how, as a child, she always looked out her grandmother’s window and dreamt of traveling to Africa, where she later traveled on three separate occasions. She described her shock at a Nigerian marketplace when she saw a mountain of snails and much more somberly, on a separate trip to Senegal, she explained her emotions while visiting the Point of No Return, where slaves, some of whom were her ancestors, were forced to board the slave ships.
(Below is the painting in its early stages. I’m sorry if the messy desk distresses you; I thrive in squalor).
The third and final turning point that Carolyn described was more recently, when she felt sick after visiting her mother in the hospital. Her illness turned out to be much more serious than she assumed- she went to sleep on October 31 and when she woke up from the coma, it was the middle of April. Her resilience as she relearned basic tasks and perseverance through physical and occupational therapy was very inspirational to me and I cannot wait to hear more about this new beginning from her in person.
The Living Canvases artists and subjects/muses have a celebratory meet and greet and banquet next Monday, which I will be sure to document. I’ve told Carolyn’s story to all of my roommates and family back home and now all of you and I hope my painting will continue to do the same because it really is a wonderful story worth sharing and learning from.
This is A Place Where You Could Go Anyplace just before I turned it in. Please disregard my severely chipping fingernails as they detract from it a lot and speak volumes about my character.
Listen to the awesome stories of those around you, paint them if you’d like, and consider how you’d want your own life story to look on canvas portrayed by a third party. Makes you think about what’s important, ja feel?
-Grace
