LINDSAY AUGUSTINE

What was it like to be the second artist to start your piece? and then to let it move on to the next artist? 

I believe that being the second artist was a privilege. I got grouped with two people that I have worked alongside as creative arts therapists, so I had some understanding of who I was collaborating with for this canvas. The first artist of my group, Jessie Leete, was mindful of this group process and created an open foundation on our canvas for me to build upon.  The third artist, Emily Smith, is an incredibly talented painter. Because I knew this, I trusted that our work was in great hands and felt pressure to live up to the skills and creativity that these two fellow artists have. I hope what I contributed to our piece was inspiring rather than limiting.

How was Unity experienced in your process?

For me, images of both ancient and indigenous peoples around a fire spoke to this concept. There was once a window of time when humans created fire for warmth, light, and survival (rather than weapons, war, and destruction). They gathered around a fire in a circle to share stories and perform rituals with one another. These people had respect for the Earth and gave back to the land as much as they took. I wanted to depict fire in a subtle way that made a nod to the older, pictorial ways of written language. I utilized simple, colorful, linear patterns in groups of 3 in a layered composition to express a symbolic representation of both the fire and the pictorial languages of this time. 

I believe the three of us worked well as a group. Jessie and I each worked on areas of the canvas that didn’t monopolize the space. Emily utilized the structure that Jessie built to create a three-dimensional piece while also manifesting my pattern into flames. I think we both approached the artwork with a sense of respecting space without creating something that looks compartmentalized.