Stories & Art of Local Transformation
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Picture

Ann-Other Collateral

Artist: Dr. Pauline Sameshima, Lakehead University
Medium: ​Mixed media, video 
​Artist Statement: 
This video is a  response to data collected at one of the multiple sites in a funded international research project on social accountability during covid. The larger project is called Stories of Art and Local Transformation in Health and Education (SALT-HE). Using a methodological process called Parallaxic Praxis, interdisciplinary researchers analyzed art created by participants to develop understandings of how participants experienced social accountability, a globally recognized key value in transformative community partnerships in health education. The video plays with the inextricably entwined interconnectedness of the constructed frame (video filter), content (mannequin), and experience (poem) to demonstrate the complexity of addressing systemic change.


​

​I can’t close my eyes 

my plastic skin 
does not feel the tears uncried
sloshing in my hollow head
severed at the neck 

from a body I do not know
inconsequential online 


knotted, gnarled 
withering above 
ahead, the shadows 
of my filtered self 
eclipse my views 
I no longer know 
what flower coloured 
glasses I wear 
this shield, this mask 
is my every day 

I awake unrested 
eyes wide as 
covid numbers rise 
heartbeats wane 
celebrations mute and 
mournings remain silent 

this synthetic Halloween wig sits
past the masquerade-- 

the fantasy old, the carnival and
enchantment of being Other
haunts beyond my house long
past October 


autumn grows out of my brain
a slow dying, expanding 

out from my body 
duff, plant litter, detritus 
my self decomposing 
calling out for sleep 
hibernation tangled 
and fighting 

my fall
my crown of thorns 
my righteous mantle 
pricks my head 
bearing crosses 
I cannot see or hold 
negation and sin on every
level always subjugated to 

another social distancing
and another variant 

I hear Bob lament in
song--
a brand new game 

it will never be the same 

beyond my shield 
I build another 
phoney world 
of pure white petals 
innocence symbolic 
of the bridge between 
a spiritual perfection 
and earthly chaos-- 
the mirror partner 
of every binary 
pretending 
all is well 

judge and jury 
of every dichotomy 
he’s bad, I’m good 
I’m clean, they party 
they laugh, I must not-- 
always suffocating 
even as the blue sky 
rests far far away 

Bob keeps singing-- 
stand up tall 
with our backs 
against the wall 

in my zoom room 
I lean fatigued 
no confrontation 
is my creed
my mask chants my words: 
“Remember all the dreams 
reclaim patched stories 
threaded through our genes
climbing, gathering 

remembering love” 

and yet, 
the word love 
is never visible 
tucked under my chin 
hidden in the fold 
of my life’s protection 
everyone, everything is far
as I hold my distance-- 

eagerly peering 
through my own bars 
knowing I cannot see
 

who dares to put eggs in the nest
of compassion I grow on my head
when all I can muster are sharp,
dry sticks in a mess? 


a strand of hair 
blows across my cheek 
and cannot be wrapped 
gently behind my ear 
by someone who loves me for
my ear is fused to my head
even human howling 

cannot shift my gaze 

how do I live 
unsettled, undivided 
in flow with the Other 
in the communities I need
and desperately fear? 

I hide to save my life 

how can I disrupt my own biases
ascend the staircases 

detach my filtered face
my social self 
my prepared head 
in my zoo cage 
to surrender myself? 
all I want to remember are
the dreams I had before
Picture
Picture

Off Center

Artist: Dr. Pauline Sameshima, Lakehead University  
Medium: Needle Punch
Artist’s Statement:
This artwork uses a needle-punching technique to echo a methodical process of weaving and circuitous motion. The dynamic nature of relationships within the pentagram is reflected in the intricacy, connectedness, and moving venn circle designs. Both sides of a needle-punched work differ greatly—a reflection of how unsystematic, yet acceptable, reciprocal learning processes can look. The design is overlaid with a disjointed pentagram, drawing attention to the “ground” where the people are more valued than the imposed organizer.

​

© SALT-HE 2022
  • Home
  • About
    • Team
  • Gallery
  • Installation
    • NOSMU West Site
  • Research
    • Research Model
    • Refereed Posters
    • Exhibitions
    • Researcher-Artist Makings >
      • Marnie Snoek (2021)
      • Pauline Sameshima (2021)
      • Ashley Walter (2021)
      • Tashya Orasi
  • Contact