Naming Art and Electing Leaders

I made a very large, very colorful collage recently. I decided I wanted to name it. But I could NOT come up with a name, as hard as I tried. So, I stopped trying for a bit.

This week as the election happened, the results started coming in, I got more and more optimistic about a return to leaders we can be proud of….my brain also started circling in on a name.

Today, when the results were called, I finally had it:

Kamala wins (and Joe, too)!

This election doesn’t solve all our problems, but it sure is good news. Four years ago, when my international friends checked in, feeling compelled to share their disappointment with their personal connection to the US, I felt shameful. Today, they checked in again with congratulations and while I can’t quite express pride in the situation, I certainly feel hope.

Ruthless Times

I accidentally made a pun today.

We were talking about the context of this recent Supreme Court appointment process—a last-minute attempt to hang on to power —as the piece that is so heart wrenching. “It’s just so ruthless in this context,” I said. Ah! What did I just say? Well, it is. Ruthless Times. A Ruthless Supreme Court.

I’m not looking forward to being in Ruthless times. I’m concerned about what a Ruthless Supreme Court will do, and I really can’t predict how exactly this will impact our laws moving forward. But I do know our new ruthless Supreme Court is missing one staunch advocate for human rights. It is missing a justice who saw the injustices in our system—and the way the law could be interpreted to remedy them—instead of hiding behind the text and claiming powerlessness.

On a related note, I went in search of some Constitutional-political commentary today from a law professor whose perspective I always appreciate (who just so happened to clerk for Justice Ginsburg). Instead of commentary, I got something that is probably more valuable: a reminder to be especially conscious of being kind right now. So, we may be in the midst of ruthless times in the political sphere, but we don’t have to be that way on a personal level. That’s what I’m thinking about today.

And I still love this RBG collage so so much.

Finding Joy in Mourning RBG

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an inspiring woman in so many ways. As a female lawyer, it’s hard not to look up to her and aspire to be like her in some way. But the most surprising way she has been inspiring to me is the way she’s popped up into my art. Her possible death has been a concern for me since November 8, 2016. A huge concern. As I said in this zine in early 2019, it was such a concerning thought that I couldn’t even think about it or the likely the ramifications of such an event.

And then it happened. And somehow, despite the urge to wallow in despair at the predictable consequences of her death, I started joyfully making things:

First it was the impromptu collar made the morning after I heard the news. Made with scraps of colored paper, and documented to the tune of the Marriage of Figaro.

The next day, not sure what to do, I started making her response to the “When will there be enough women on the Supreme Court” question.

And finally, I responded to a friend’s request to draw her by cutting, pasting, and playing. It turned into a wonky portrait that I adore to pieces and a lawn sign.

May her legacy be honored and may she keep inspiring us all to create and act in positive ways.