Sheltered with paintings

If only paintings could be used as patchwork for house roofs. Many would then be sheltered under the shadow of the artist’s sensibilities; his or her sensitivities and feelings about the surrounding world, and maybe some magic from the artist’s work could eventually seep into the dwellers’ minds, leaving a mark of great depth and create yet another artist. There could be nothing worse than an accident that takes away a person’s only source of creativity. Lucy Arai the artist who has given away her paintings for those whose houses have been destroyed by the floods recently faced this emotionally devastating loss herself. In a medical procedure, she lost use of both her hands, and can no longer create the work she used to: she can never stitch anymore.
Lucy Arai who is of Japanese-American heritage, used a traditional Japanese stitching technique in her original mixed-media paintings. The technique is called sashiko, a stitch used by poor farmers of northern Japan to strengthen the clothes they wear to work in the fields.
Her paintings were reproduced photographically in 2009 for an art exhibition in Alhamra. She has contributed all of these copies for the flood victims. The exhibition had been titled ‘Available Light’, where Dr Maureen Korp, a world renowned scholar, art historian, teacher and poet was invited to curate. The exhibition had showcased the work of six international artists from Canada, Europe, United States and Japan.
Since Arai’s original paintings were too delicate to transport to Lahore from San Francisco, the artist gave permission for her work to be printed onto “flex,” an exceptionally sturdy plastic-impregnated, waterproof material. When the exhibition closed, curator Dr Maureen Korp promised the artist that the replica of her work would be safeguarded. But now, Arai’s work is going to safeguard others. The reproduced art work is going to flood relief efforts for use as building materials, roof patchwork, or something to spread onto the ground. Tanya Sohail, curator of the Alhamra Art Gallery, says that the work will be sent in various places especially Multan, because South Punjab was one of the worst flood hit areas.
“We are sending one of her biggest reproductions to Multan, where some architects are working on building mud houses for the IDPs,” says Sohail. “This material, being ‘flex’ will be very helpful for their houses.” She says that the biggest reproduction was one whose size nine by nine feet photography of Arai’s painting, but the rest were varying in size, somewhere between four feet by three feet. Arai allowed her reproduced work to be cut into panels and given away. These water-proof panels could be used as material to ward off water. Meanwhile, Tanya will be supervising the cutting of the Arai’s materials into panels of useful length and will be organising the donation for the flood relief.
Farhat Abbas, photographer and IT expert, has already documented the process to send back to Arai in San Francisco. ‘Available Light’ was shown at the Alhamra Art Gallery in November 2009. The exhibition then travelled to Islamabad and was shown at the Pakistan National Gallery of Art in February and March 2010. Two other artists from the exhibition – Canadians Cecile Boucher and Sandra Hawkins – donated their work to the permanent collection of the Lahore Arts Gallery and can be viewed at the Alhamra Cultural Complex, Qaddafi Stadium.