Art Heals: Resilient

Looking at art is for me a primary necessity, which is why I enjoy representational, expressionist, and abstract art.  I enjoy delving into the layers, searching for pentimento to the thoughts beneath the surface. Titles are helpful, of course, but aren’t necessary; you are your own best interpreter of what you see. This piece, painted collage, Resilient Identity by Samar Hussaini, helps me to explore the concept of resiliency.   Defined as an ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change, resiliency has always been the hallmark of people suffering, and surviving, oppression.  I disagree slightly with the definition, as I don’t find it easy to make the necessary adjustments to achieve resiliency in this time of fear and uncertainty, but I am trying.    I probe the layers of the painting searching for talismans to comfort me and give me strength.  Fragments of text from long-ago missives, scraps of woven memories of departed family, symbols of hope and continuity.  A painting, made for another time, but now a path leading me toward endurance and resilience.
Degas said, “Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” Be resilient, be kind. Art Heals.