Mother, Daughter, Sister, Self by Diana Berek

All copyrights for the art on this page are owned by the artist, Diana Berek.

Mother, Daughter, Sister, Self by Diana Berek

Artist's Statement
Mother, Daughter, Sister, Self Oil on canvas 1991: 27' x18"
The old woman is a "crone", a symbol of collective wisdom and
practical experience. She is the mother of humanity, the daughter of
our first ancestor, a sister to each of us. She is the past trying
to teach us in the present and give us a future. The white forms
just below and to right of the crone are the spirits of generations
to come. This piece honors the passage--the unbroken line--of many
ancestors. Each mother before us walked and danced beneath the sun
and the stars. Each worked to feed and shelter the next generation.
Each one sought to protect and teach their children often under
conditions of hardship. In the face of war or famine, they uprooted
their families, migrated to somewhere else to create a new life, a
new society. Each one lived on this earth, stitched to the past and
to the future by the sacred memories they received and then passed on
to the next generation. The further back in time that we go to trace
our ancestors, the more we realize how related we are. If we could
trace ourselves back to our ancient origins, we would find that we
all converge to the same first grandmother.

This painting was exhibited in a group show, "Sacred Memories", at
the Near Northwest Art Center, Chicago, sponsored by the Guild
Complex in 1994 and curated by Erika Allen. I submitted this
painting for that exhibit because it is about the unbroken line, the
sacred memory binding us to our past, impelling us to our future. It
is a thread which we hold and have the power to pass forward. I will
be the ancestor of my children's children. I paint to imagine and to
entice others to imagine, a new society in which my children will not
be economic victims of corporate re-structuring, or sacrificial
targets of politically induced violence, but will be free and valued.
This yearning for freedom, justice and a peaceful, bountiful life is
ancient. It has been dreamed of and yearned for since the beginnings
of human society. Yet, because it has not been fully realized, it
remains a new idea, an ideal yet to be realized in society. It is one
of the sacred memories that was given to us and which we must give to
next generations.

Uptown Multi-Cultural Art Center (UM-CAC). E-mail UM-CAC at umcac@art-teez.org Ph.773/561-7676