Jan. 1, 2023 site revision: ACCEPTED Submission to Future Art Awards: WOMAN. LIFE. FREEDOM. Thank you!
Artist: Cheryl De Ciantis Title: Elegy for Ten Murdered Roses Year Created: 2022 - I accept to exhibit anonymously
Elegy for Ten Murdered Roses - download submission, accepted version - JPEG 8545 x 4694 px, 300 dpi (here)
Label Text for Exhibition - download Word file (here)
(More downloadable files below).
Closer View: Click image in gallery to enlarge in lightbox.
Description
Medium: Vinyl paint and bic pen on handmade paper (4.5 x 6 inches); texts; all in frames (5 x 7 inches).
Dimensions: ten framed modules (metal with glass), 5 x 7 inches each, to be hung .5 inch apart as shown.
Notes: may be exhibited on wall or as digital gallery.
Elegy for Ten Murdered Roses
(submitted by Cheryl De Ciantis and to be exhibited anonymously)
Exhibition Label (200 words)
We have too few images of these women who have been taken from this life: selfies where headscarves could be removed in courageous defiance, or quick snapshots of outings celebrating rare moments of freedom and pure exuberance. The ten women I have drawn are surrounded by falling rose petals. In many cultures, these are a traditional symbol of spiritual light and renewal, and of the fragrance of heaven, as roses tell us there is heaven on earth. Roses are an especially potent symbol in the venerable and profoundly poetic Persian civilization and culture. Each woman’s rose petals are a different color, in honor of her individuality. The backgrounds are iridescent, shining colors, like icons. Their sanctity is not in how they conformed to rules meant to deny the variety of pleasures the world gifts to us and we share in turn with beloved others; but rather, how they confirmed their unique identities in life, growing like plants in the sunlight and showing their different faces and features to the world. I hope that the families and friends of the women I have drawn might recognize a spark of the person they love, even if the likeness may be imperfect.
Cheryl De Ciantis - Artist Statement (download .DOCX here)
Since 2015 I have been drawing the faces of women who move me, more than 100 of them so far. On October 3, 2022, I began to draw portraits of women I was hearing about: protestors being murdered by the brutal regime in Iran for the crime of daring to be self-determined. First, the face of Mahsa Amini, on a poster held by a furious protestor photographed in Tehran. I have also drawn the portraits of women journalists detained for reporting on Amina’s murder by the Morality Police, of unnamed protestors, and of women who have been imprisoned and persecuted for supposed crimes against the rules imposed on women by profoundly corrupt and cowardly men determined to hold power through savagery.
I hope that the families and friends of the women I have drawn might recognize a spark of the person they love, even if the likeness may be imperfect. They are painted/drawn on rough handmade paper, to avoid being too “precious” and hopefully allowing the passage, through the marks, of something fleeting. We have little of the very young women who have been taken from this life; the few casual selfies and the quick snapshots of outings where headscarves could be removed for a moment of exuberance. Yet they reveal so much when we look. One woman may be what I like to call a “girly girl” who loves creative makeup and fashion, favors certain colors. Another may be tanned from her love of the outdoors. Another presents the image of a goth girl, who looks at you (or perhaps herself in a selfie) boldly and frankly; another shows a coy side, another pure joy and laughter.
The women I have drawn who have been murdered are surrounded by falling rose petals. In many cultures, these are a traditional symbol of spiritual light and renewal, of the fragrance of heaven, as roses tell us there is heaven on earth. Roses are an especially potent symbol in the venerable and profoundly poetic Persian civilization and culture. Each woman’s rose petals are a different color, in honor of her individuality. The backgrounds are iridescent, shining colors, meant to refer to icons. Their sanctity is not in how they conformed to rules meant to deny the variety of pleasures the world gifts to us and we gift to ourselves and beloved others, but rather, how they confirmed their unique identities in life, growing like plants in the sunlight and showing such different faces and features to the world.
I fall in love with every face, every woman I draw.
A cherished friend told me she was aware that women in Iran were being killed, but, she said, “I don’t know their names.” Here are names, here are faces. We can say their names. And, moved by the knowledge of their existence and their passions, we can undertake the work we need to do to carry their messages onward: Woman. Life. Freedom.
With loving thanks to Mahmood Karimi-Hakak for Farsi translation.
Tucson, Arizona USA
November 15, 2022
Downloadable PNG files - Images created by Cheryl De Ciantis; please give attribution; not for commercial use
