Category: Well-being

Q&A with the artists of MASKED

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An Exhibition by William Doan, Michael Green, and Emily Steinberg

Illustrated headshots of the artists side-by-side with the title MASKED at the top
Artwork above by Emily Steinberg

 

Borland Project Space | 125 Borland Building, Penn State University Park
January 12 – March 2, 2022 | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday
Masked Exhibition Artists’ Talk: https://bit.ly/3suSHDK
February 25 from 4 – 5 p.m.

How and when did you conceive of the Masked Exhibition and how did it all come together?

Emily Steinberg: During the Pandemic Year of 2021, Bill, Michael and I were zooming on a regular basis. We did this to stay creatively and socially connected during the time of lockdown and isolation. We spoke about a lot of things during this time, and one of them… was collaborating on an exhibition together around the idea of masking. What is masking? What has our experience been like during the lockdown. What are the issues of identity and presentation around masking. What are the historical and art historical precedents of masking. Picasso’s Demoiselles D’Avignon, 1907, comes to mind.

William Doan: I think it was during a catch-up zoom early in 2021 and we were chatting about possible collaborations. We discovered that we were all interested in masks/masking for a variety of reasons. Emily was already making work about masking, Michael’s take as a physician was interesting and personal, and I have always been fascinated by “masking” writ large as a theatre artist. We started sharing work and Michael investigated the possibility of showing the work at Hershey Medical and we were off and running.

Michael Green: As Emily and Bill said, we had been zooming for a while to stay connected, and during one of our brainstorming sessions, we decided to explore the theme of masking as something that was on everyone’s mind, but that probably meant something different to each person. Since each of us comes from different backgrounds, we thought it would be fruitful to respond to this simple prompt in our own way, and the exhibit evolved from there.

Illustrations of people wearing different types of masks with witty descriptions of appropriate activities when wearing each style
Artwork above by Emily Steinberg

 

What surprised you and/or what did you learn when you were creating the work for this exhibition?

Emily Steinberg: I loved the idea of blowing up drawings and printing them on vinyl.

William Doan: What surprised me was how differently we all thought about masking, yet our mutual interest in graphic medicine, comics, graphic narrative seemed to tie it all together. I learned that I’m really inspired by Emily and Michael’s work and want to keep finding ways to collaborate with them.

Michael Green: I was surprised by how scale changed an image. Most of my original work was done in small and inexpensive composition notebooks, 7.5″x9.75″. Seeing these images enlarged to 4 ft x 5 ft in size changed so much about the images, in terms of impact, meaning, and the feelings they elicited. Also, seeing the various pieces juxtaposed with one another was really interesting, because each of us see differently and express our visions in unique ways.

Illustrations of various kinds of masking on the left with a list of what masks do and don't do on the right
Artwork above by Michael Green

 

How has your perception changed since you first conceived of this exhibition; what does this work mean and represent to you now?

Emily Steinberg: This work represents a specific period in time for me. A time of vast uncertainty, of fear, anxiety, of trying to figure out how to maneuver within new constraints.

William Doan: I’d say my interest and thinking around the complex notion of masking has deepened. Teaching wearing a mask, trying to perform wearing a mask, trying to conceive of mask-wearing and Covid-like pandemics being part of life from now on, weigh heavily on my mind. And those thoughts feed the continued work I’m doing in the mental health space, thoughts about masking anxiety and depression, hiding and protecting the self, and the historical power of masking.

Michael Green: Masks have taken on meaning so much greater than originally intended in the medical context. Medical professionals tended to see them in terms of public health and safety. But for so many people, these are statements about politics, identity, and affiliation. It’s strange and interesting, and also troubling in many ways.

If you were creating work for the exhibition today, what would you do differently?

Emily Steinberg: I would create a full-blown graphic narrative about the experience and present it as life size panels.

William Doan: I would love to scale up the size of the pandemic doctor masks I made and explore different ways of applying text to them.

Michael Green: I think I’d include more self-portraits with masks to see where that takes me.

black plague mask with hands and text drawn on
Artwork above by William Doan

 

What comes to mind around this topic of masking when you think about the future?

Emily Steinberg: I don’t want to think about masks anymore, LOL.

William Doan: I keep thinking about how regular masking in public will exponentially lower the number of people who know what I look like. And how this might feed social media as the location where you try to connect the masked face you encounter out in the world with the whole face of that person …

Michael Green: I look forward to a time when a mask is just a mask and no longer a statement about one’s politics or identity. I don’t know if we’ll ever get there, but I can hope ….

View larger images and the full exhibition at Masked online: https://spark.adobe.com/page/cevVdvRawvSZr/

Self-Care vs. Self-Respect: Insights from an Evening with Kimberly Dark

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By Katelyn Quick
Assistant Director, Penn State Student Affairs Health Promotion and Wellness

Headshot of Katelyn Quick in black blazer with gray background

When I planned to have Kimberly Dark perform “You Don’t Owe Anyone Pretty” for Eating Disorders Awareness Week this year, I knew I was in for a great show that would get me thinking about how appearance and identity tie into systems of oppression. She did not disappoint, and I’d like to share the inspiration with you. Let’s begin with you conjuring up a few images in your mind. When you read the following identities, just imagine that person standing in front of you.

  • Yoga instructor
  • Rock climber
  • Dancer

Were any of these people standing in front of you fat or old?

Now, read a quote from Kimberly Dark:
“The fat middle-aged lady is not supposed to be the fitness instructor or the yoga instructor or the rock climber or the disco dancer. The fat middle-aged lady is not supposed to be physical or respectable in any way.” And then she said something profound; “I am respectable.”  Wow. Mic Drop.

So, I found myself thinking about how categorizing others comes all too naturally. Of course, as a professional who works in the eating disorders field, I’d decided to drop my judgments about others’ bodies long ago. I know that appearance has absolutely nothing to do with health or happiness. But what really hit me about that statement was that Kimberly Dark believes, deep in her core, that she is respectable. She doesn’t need me or anyone else to tell her that. Despite the ways she describes not fitting into society’s ideal identity for women, she believes it in her core. And that, in itself, triggered a sense of reverence. “How beautiful,” I thought.

I teach my clients about body acceptance and self-care every day, which I’m really good at doing! Most females have had to confront body image issues at some point, myself included. I believe these specific challenges taught me to have empathy for my clients. But truthfully, self-care has never been a challenge because it came so intuitively. For me, cooking is easy; yoga is fun; bubble baths feel good. It’s natural for me to encourage my clients to explore what activities work for them.

However, this idea of developing respect at the core had me digging a little deeper. I still have my own struggles with acceptance from others, and frequently find myself considering, “What does this person want from me?” or “How can I make this situation more comfortable for them?” or “What is the right way to show up in that space?” Could the answers to these questions hurt me? Absolutely. The reason Kimberly’s core of respect was striking is because I still need to cultivate that in myself.

Kimberly said, “If we want kids to grow up and take responsibility for their words and actions, then it’s time we adults do more of it ourselves.” Body acceptance and self-care was a good start for me, but I’ll be working on developing respect at my core, both for my clients and for myself.

We each have our own internal power, and we decide how to use it.

 

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week events took place February 22 – 28, 2021. This year’s theme is Every Body Has a Seat at the Table, which was created by the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA). The theme captures the importance of generating conversations to raise awareness, challenge systemic biases, and share stories from all backgrounds and experiences, especially stories from marginalized communities. The Arts & Design Research Incubator and Student Affairs Health Promotion and Wellness partnered to host guest artist Kimberly Dark. This event was funded by the Laura R. Whitaker Fund.

A Tale of Two Exhibits …

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by William Doan
ADRI Director, professor of theatre, 2019-20 Penn State Laureate

When I started The Anxiety Project almost five years ago, it was never my intention to exhibit the drawings in any other way than as part of a performance. In my mind, I wasn’t so much making art, as using drawing to try and express what I seemed to fail to express to others with words alone. (I know that sounds a lot like making art… But for reasons those living with anxiety and depression will understand, the idea of making art is too intimidating to have as an intent). I was coming to grips with the fact that I’ve lived with anxiety and depression most of my life and have, more often than not, let them take the lead in how I moved through the world. Anxiety and depression were essentially in the driver’s seat and I was just along for the ride. The drawings help. Drawing every day helps. Drawing as a regular part of my meditation practice helps. I even integrated drawing into my therapy, often sharing them with my therapist and discovering how much meaning they contained for me.

drawings hanging on a blue wall in exhibition
photo by Ashleigh Longtine

As I started to develop performances and presentations around the drawings, they became integral parts of my story and I loved projecting them as big as possible, depending on the venue. They were/are my scenery, sometimes even my props. So when people talked about the drawings and how the drawings affected them, or how they wanted more time with them than the performance allowed, I was always a little surprised. I didn’t have much confidence in them as stand-alone drawings, or as drawings one might go to experience in an exhibition.

But here we are. Two exhibitions of work from my Anxiety Project happening in 2021:

HUB-Robeson Center, University Park
HUB Gallery & Online
The Anxiety Project
January 16-March 14

Bellefonte Art Museum for Centre County
Paulette Lorraine Berner Community Gallery (Second Floor)
Selections from The Anxiety Project
January 31 – February 28
Friday, Saturday, & Sunday 12-4:30

Both exhibitions include drawings from the project’s performances, as well as pages from the most recent part of the project, a visual narrative, Inside Anxiety and Depression – very much a work in progress. The HUB Gallery exhibition will also include our short animated film, Inhale, Exhale, Draw.

Drawings by Bill Doan Hanging on the walls of HUB Gallery
photo by Ashleigh Longtine

The work in the project is very personal. But it also seeks to make meaning out of the fact that anxiety and depression are pervasive in the archives of human experience. And it seems this is true for biochemical and social reasons. I’m eager to experience the drawings in this context, despite how risky it feels to have them stand on their own outside performance. I hope others will discover something in them that speaks to them and helps shed some light on their own experience or that of someone they love.

The HUB Gallery online exhibition is currently open for viewing.

two walls of Bill Doan's drawings in HUB-Robeson Gallery
View a 360° photo of The Anxiety Project Exhibition at HUB-Robeson Galleries.