A new body of work to pay homage to my journey, celebrate the art of my story, and to further explore cellular memory as well as symbiotic relationships between landscapes, humans and our cultures. The launch of this series includes 13 original oil paintings. Inspired by my fascination and wonder of all things in nature, the connectedness to my surroundings, the journey of my DNA, and the rituals encompassing my spirituality.
Thank you Mary Babcock for inviting me into the gallery, organizing the art exhibit, and curating the space with me. I am grateful for the opportunity to share this body of work with Mount Calvary Lutheran Church and its community.
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I see my face in your face
A reflection so familiar
As the blood travels my veins
I do remember
All the places I’ve lived, the languages learned.
I feel the miles traveled to survive, protect, trade, conquer, enslave, and fall in love
Weaving the cultural tapestries into beautiful landscapes
My eyes become relationship and connectedness of self
To all that have come before, to all that is around, and to what will eventually be
Mined like precious stones
Arousal, consciousness, clarity
Reshape the ethnic patterns of my heart
Joyful, sorrowful, glorious, luminous; all dancing
On my mirror of evolution and brightness
Shame eroded, peeled, unraveled
In the waves of my beating heart
And I begin to know me
~Ellen Sweetman 2018
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