The HOPE Sculpture
Selected Artwork:
Featured Stories
"A Whole Other Universe" - by Artist-in-Residence Turner Houston
On one of my Artist in Residence shifts at the INOVA Schar Cancer Institute, I walked past a young woman sitting in the open area of the Infusion unit. Unlike most patients, she was not looking at her iPhone or listening through ear buds, but sat with a notebook open on her lap, seemingly far away in thought. Beside her, the IV pump displayed lime green messages as lines fed chemo into her port. Her energy was serene, her gaze was out the window.
“Would you be interested in taking an art break and collaging today?” I asked.
“Would I ever! This is perfect—I forgot to bring my sketch pad and I’d really love to do some art!” she exclaimed.
We sat together and collaged—she needed no guidance as she seemed very familiar with and comfortable making art. K. was a young mother, a student getting her Master’s degree in Museum Studies at Johns Hopkins, and a recent arrival from Texas. She said she loved making things—paintings and collage as well. She wanted to run a museum or have her own gallery.
“This was from a set of Happiness greeting cards I made during my chemo treatment. The neon bright colors were very healing. (Vintage paper and acrylic crayons)”
“Scarlett (my daughter) and I at home just messing around with some gouache paint and oil pastels. We love to create together. Oftentimes when one of us sits down to create, the other is magnetically attracted and then it’s a group. (My two boys are the same but with a little less patience.)”
Her collages that day were done quickly and with great energy. They were abstract and visually strong, with marks that created a rhythm and colors that surprised and delighted. I asked her if she had studied art, and she said no; she had been a dancer. I told her her art reminded me of Joan Mitchell’s art—and we both agreed we loved Joan’s work.
I met with K. over several weeks, and we became friends. She invited me to her apartment one day and I felt like I had stepped into a museum of art—all of it, hers: paintings, collages, drawings. Her dining room table converted to a maker’s table where she and her daughter made art together. Every wall had art on it—hers and others’. She likes mid-century modern design and uses acrylics, pastels, and colored pencils to create her collage/paintings.
K. set her intention to find employment in the arts, and soon after her treatment was done, she worked at art studio teaching children how to paint. Then she developed a curriculum and taught art at a summer camp using natural elements to make prints and paintings.
Having recently relocated to a house, K. is hoping to have time—and more space—to continue with her artwork.
Her collages that day were done quickly and with great energy. They were abstract and visually strong, with marks that created a rhythm and colors that surprised and delighted. I asked her if she had studied art, and she said no; she had been a dancer. I told her her art reminded me of Joan Mitchell’s art—and we both agreed we loved Joan’s work.
I met with K. over several weeks, and we became friends. She invited me to her apartment one day and I felt like I had stepped into a museum of art—all of it, hers: paintings, collages, drawings. Her dining room table converted to a maker’s table where she and her daughter made art together. Every wall had art on it—hers and others’. She likes mid-century modern design and uses acrylics, pastels, and colored pencils to create her collage/paintings.
K. set her intention to find employment in the arts, and soon after her treatment was done, she worked at an art studio teaching children how to paint. Then she developed a curriculum and taught art at a summer camp using natural elements to make prints and paintings.
Having recently relocated to a house, K. is hoping to have time—and more space—to continue with her artwork.
“This is one of a set of two that are now in my office. I love the colors because they remind me of growing up in the 80’s. I was also attempting collage on larger canvases instead of smaller pieces.” (Acrylic paint and vintage paper.)
”I made this right around the time (Turner) and I were talking a lot about Joan Mitchell. And it might have been made after our visit to the Baltimore Museum to see her retrospective. She definitely was on my mind. The colors and action remind me of a bright, summer day beside a still lake with dragonflies and other fast-flying bugs darting and glistening in the light.”(Acrylic paint, ink, and oil pastels.)
“This piece comes from a set of 3 larger canvases. I was influenced by another favorite painter, Nicolas de Stael. He was all about the space between things and landscapes. I love the way we can see light behind and between objects when we squint our eyes. Like there is a whole other universe just beyond our normal vision.” (Acrylic paint)