Testimony and Shelter
Untitled
Shellac and oil on linen. 60″ x 48″
Testimony and Shelter has become an overarching theme in the work I need to do with my art. While attending a spoken word concert of Kerry Kennedy’s book, Speak Truth to Power, I realized that the tragic and powerful stories of pain we cause each other and the stories of conviction to provide safety and succor to those abused could be summarized by the words testimony and shelter...often two sides of the same coin.
Testimony is witness, stories of horror often gathered at great and immediate risk… through the bravery and determination of men and women who present firsthand accounts of the wrong and pain we do to one another. Sometimes the stories only emerge years later.
Stories of shelter, of accomplishment are also testimony…stories which illuminate efforts of courageous and dedicated men and women to provide not just physical shelter and safety, but comfort, healing for body and spirit to those lost, endangered, enslaved or discarded. Shelter is in stories of providing food, education, medical services and even in digging a well.
Note: The two painting below, Requiem for the Innocent, my response to 9/11, over 8′ long, and Lamentations, just over 8′ long, are extremely large works which is not reflected in relation to the other paintings on the page.
Requiem for the Innocent
Shellac and oil and gold leaf on canvas. 62″ x 102″
Lamentations
Shellac and oil on linen. 64″ x 98″
Studies for Lamentations on Paper
Various papers.
Sal Brownfield Studio and Gallery 
