A LIVE BODY PAINT ART INSTALLATION
Grand Bohemian Charleston ~ Spoleto Festival USA 2018
by BRIAHNA WENKE and SAMANTHA RUETER
A live performance piece, rendering the universal human condition of endurance and resilience.
ARTISTS' STATEMENT
We all have stories. Layers. That have been slathered on us since birth.
Circumstances that are written for us without our permission.
Compassion or neglect, confidence or doubt, beauty or horror - all of it. A physical manifestation of our experiences, we stash it away in our bodies and carry on.
If you’re optimistic and willing, it might one day turn out to be something you can look at without having your stomach turn.
And eventually, with hard work and resilience; something you learn to appreciate when you stand back to see the larger picture for what it truly is.
These human form creations represent this shift in the story.
Ceasing to blame ourselves for the weight we never asked to carry.
Recognizing it in one another and standing together, in solidarity, to heal.
"Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something,
loves something, and has lost something" -H Jackson Brown Jr
What if we could see the harsh layers, the colors, the stories we carry, slathered on our bodies, how would we look eachother? judge eachother? any kinder than we do now?
"If you want to make a society work, then you don't keep underscoring
the places where you're different - you underscore your shared humanity."
-Sebastian Junger, Tribe
Immense gratitude to our contributors:
~Mary Beth Creates with videography & photography
~Petaloso with creative florals, headpieces, and set arrangements.
~Dasher Designs with photography
~Grand Bohemian Hotel & Gallery for the beautiful outdoor venue on Meeting St, Charleston
~Alex Agrest of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra
A huge THANK YOU to our models, beautiful BODY POSITIVE CREATIVES,
who agreed to stand with us and brought our vision to life so fluidly and effortlessly.
perhaps everyone has a story that could break your heart
Things They Carry