That Which is Created Out of Chaos
OUR WORK IS PROGRESS. Each one of us has the authority to speak urgently, moving beyond barriers to physical connection. Month after endless month, sister creatives have forged personal rooms spanning space and time. In competition at times with workplace productivity metrics, our children’s growth, and the tenuous safety of all, where does our creative well-being fit? Since 2019, WAVES has served as a vessel for our narratives and...
Stream of Reason by Hilary Druley
“Stream of Reason” by Hilary Druley Hilary Druley’s Artist Statement: Currently, I paint as a way to focus my artistic energy and cope with my grief over the loss of my mother. Rather than using my typical monochromatic style, I’ve been using a wide array of bold colors in each piece and stepping out of my comfort zone artistically. My mom always inspired me – by her incredible art and by...
Should That Be Enough? by Cristina DeSouza
“Should That Be Enough?” by Cristina DeSouza I I was born from an anonymous womb. Have I told you as soon as it happened, I was injected into other people’s lives? That I never knew my mother’s lap and I can still hear my birth mother’s deep voice? Have I told you my adopted mother’s voice was more soprano? Have I told you I cried day and night to that unfamiliar voice who sang to me and rocked me in...
Our Rooted Boundlessness
OUR ROOM IS SACRED. We honor our evolving self-agency as creative women and insist on our responsibility to each other by entering shared space with profound mutual respect for our personal time, dignity, artistry, ancestors, and culture. Original sharing, August 10, 2020, Inaugural Global Summer Camp Lend Your Voice and Vision to WAVES Submit “Stream of Reason” by Hilary Druley ...
Still Life with Flowers by Beth Brown Preston
“Still Life with Flowers” by Beth Brown Preston For Momma “A good woman is not an artist by profession,” Momma warned me. “She does not waste her time writing immature poetry while surviving on the money she earns by dancing topless in a bar near Malcolm X Park. She educates herself, finds a good job – a teacher or librarian – and supports her husband and her children with the fruit of her career. When she retires...
Rooted Boundlessness by Lara Von Waldenburg
“Rooted Boundlessness” by Lara Von Waldenburg Lara von Waldenburg’s Artist Statement: Rooted Boundlessness is about the roots that support expansion. This speaks to my experience of grief, losing my mother 14 years ago. My foundation lost all grounding during the time of grief but has since evolved and transitioned into who I am today through healing the wounds of loss and finding truth. This...
Woman’s Voice Singing Songs From the Savage Lands
…[they] heard a woman’s voice singing, as if to her babies, a song so high and clear, it matched the flutes…She brought her songs back from the savage lands. Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts It’s always important to tell the truth because if you don’t, there are all kinds of terrible social and psychological consequences. There are implosions...
The Fireside Secrets by Ailsa Cawley
“The fireside secrets,” by Ailsa Cawley You sat with me as a child saying that there were secrets Held in the fire’s flames Look for the answers there you’d urge The secret will reveal itself if you watch I watched and was watchful as I grew almost forgot The urgency of your message And something drew me back to the flames One night long after you passed I smelled perfume I smelled your scent as I...
Drenched in Emotions by Suchismita Das
“Drenched in Emotions,” by Suchismita Das Suchismita Das’ Creative Identity Statement: I’m a strong, independent, creative woman. I work so hard for everything in my life. My society doesn’t accept or support a full-time artist. Even my family thinks painting is better as a hobby. As a result, I am a Mechanical Engineer. But by the night I become the artist, the painter I always wanted to...
Sisters Dancing by Marie Jamieson
“Sisters Dancing,” by Marie Jamieson Marie Jamieson’s Artist’s Statement: Once, I called myself a writer, with gaze averted so as not to see doubt mirrored in the eyes of the receiver and with ears shut to hearing a derisive snicker. Once, I dreamed of being a sculptor, creating a statue for a piazza in Italy, and of being a great painter with artwork hung on a great wall, featured! These are...