Budapest

“The Navigators”
Hungary Artist Residency
The Budapest artist residency in Hungary was four weeks fraught with high heat and humidity, intense emotion, and political tension. I happened to arrive at exactly the same time a huge wave of asylum seekers arrived at the border. Hungary, then and now, struggled with their response, and this crisis of humanity hangs over the city of Budapest. Please view this series of work through the lens of the current refugee crisis around the world plus the historical WW2 Nazi and Soviet occupations of this particular place.

After finding vintage photos at a flea market, I began obsessively drawing the patterns of the beautiful Matthias Church on the figures in the photos. This repetitive drawing was a source of calm and meditation. As I drew, the stories of Hungary swam around in my head, then literally swam around the figures in concentric circles. My drawings recreate the figures as Navigators, not victims, using crutches as a means of support in their navigation through environmental, political, and personal mayhem. 

Since the Budapest artist residency, I have continued drawing on old photos, transforming the photo’s initial story into a new narrative. 
​Media: pen/markers/colored pencils on vintage photos