The Belizean Women's Artists Collective held its first exhibit today at the Image Factory in Belize City. The small band of female visual artists created pieces centered around the theme word: Radical. They were challenged to interpret the word through art. We spoke to some of the artists about their works...
Katie Usher - Artist
"I have a piece her called suffer not the children and it's actually a play on a biblical, I don't know, see how bad my Catholicism is, something from the Bible where it says "Suffer the People Onto Me" and it really spun from the church's response to the UNIBAM case. They were so vocal against love, but yet still every time you open the newspapers of you guys do the news you see all these children being abused and the church kind of silences it, so that's what this piece is about."
Minita Concha - Artist
"My artwork is very innovative and I based in upon my experiences as a woman, both good and bad, and experiences of other women, both good and bad. I show a strong contrast, like at the ends of two continuums. Some of the pieces show women being submissive, being held captive by domestic violence, being held in this notion here in Belize that women should be seen and not heard. While some of my other pieces show women being resilient, they're strong, they're very vocal, they're not afraid, they're very fearless. And I do this because I think it's something that I could use to educate other people."
Karla Giovanna - Artist
"Radical to me is a deviation, something unusual. Another extreme to what you usually find in society and everything. This other piece, shows it even more. And for me this one is radical. In it I'm saying. I'm bounded by society, but at the same time the person who is binding me to society is myself."
The women also told us about their experience with the collective and how it has helped them grow as artists...
Karla Giovanna - Artist
"BWAC is an effort to just bring together female artists, because we need that space. That safe space. As women that will allow us to grow, as artists, as women and it has allowed us to come here today and show and express what we as women feel."
Miriam Antoinette - Artist
"The Belizean Women's Art Collective is what I call a sticky, cohesive of collective differences. Some of us may not even be friends, you know, but deciding to embrace what a collective is, individually and as a group, has forged in me a new understanding for human relationships and a new found respect for, even greater respect for women and what women can accomplish when we come together."
The artists say that they are already working on future projects, both as a collective and individually.
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