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Those looking at my work cannot see what I see, nor can I see what they do. This is because our gaze carries our individual experiences. For me, this completed collage, Plant a Garden, represents far more than any viewer can see. As I work my mind sometimes becomes a hummingbird flitting from thought to thought and memory to memory, weaving connections. I embrace ideas that I later let go. Some of those ideas make their way into the work, whether the viewer observes them or not.

The woman in the collage is Monier, the mother of a friend. She is 90 years old. A sweet woman, she likes kissing cheeks. Her smile will melt you. I rather spontaneously decided to include her in the collage. For me, her face represents both vulnerability and strength. This was only the second face I have ever collaged, and the first was from my imagination. I made her eyes large. Eyes can be, after all, the primary way that two people connect when they do not share a spoken language. It felt right to set Monier in this garden, where people grow things and share things, where people relay on each for kindness, where people share food and learn about each other.

The original work I based my collage on is Robert Gwathmey’s 1943 poster Plant a Victory Garden. Even in the absence of war we face rising food costs and an increase in food insecurity. Farmers are struggling. Families are choosing between food and utilities. Politics set people against one another. People are bigger than politics. I see neighbors caring for each other, across cultural and religious differences, I see that the human heart is full. This is what I wanted to show, that caring is a seed we plant and grow.

This piece is currently in the Attleboro Art Museum's Exhibition Focus on the Past. Details on the exhibition are here.