Place of Peace
Imagine sharing a cell the size of a bathroom with another person, or a dorm filled with cubicles for 8 or 10 people. The only personal space is your bunk, a shared table in the recreation area, or the luxury of a solitary walk in the yard. Prison is almost always noisy and crowded; and you must always be on alert for violence or a sudden transfer to another prison. With little of it, what peace you find, you must create. Artmaking itself is a way to find peace, either sitting on your bunk, or at a table in the rec room. You might go there early in the morning and zone out with headphones or look out the window at trees if there are any in the yard.
Many artists make images of peaceful places. Often this is a landscape, either without human presence or with it – a man kayaking alone on a river, a memory of children feeding ducks or swans, having a cool lemonade or a drink next to a lake. Nature is a balm for the soul, with the earth’s bounty of vegetation and animal species. But cities have nooks of peace as well. A café in a town square or even a car can be remembered or imagined as calm places to inhabit. Artists working in three dimensions create gazebos out of craft materials or garden spaces made from simple paper and found materials. These images embody the peace that people need to sustain themselves.
By: Janie Paul
