Artist becomes ancestors
1 AN MY WHITE ANCESTORS’ EXHIBIT AIMS TO RAISE QUESTIONS
photo by Collin Berend
BY E LI Z ABE T H K ESSEL
A picture is worth a thousand words, which
is exactly what Anne Mavor’s artwork
proves. At the Oregon C ity campus,
located in the Niemeyer Center, students
and sta ff can find the Alexander Gallery
filled w ith 13 p ho to grap hs o f M avor
dressed as her ancestors. Her exhibit, “ I
Am My W hite Ancestors: Claim ing the
Legacy o f Oppression,” is sure to stir up
conversations.
In the gallery, the large photographs o f
fem ales and males hang am ong a photo
o f a m odern M avor. W hat was ju st an
idea three years ago is now an exhibit for
people to experience colorful pictures,
with a story behind each one.
Next to each photo, observers can read
about her thoughts on the character and
what it was like to be them . The artwork
should allow for reflection on racism—
how people used to treat each other and
still do.
M avor has been an artist sin ce she
was a child. Art is w hat her fam ily did.
Her m other was an artist, and projects
were always ongoing for their fa m ily.
From painting, to writing, photography,
performance and others, Mavor has tried
many different styles of art over the years.
Mavor really envisioned how to be her
ancestors by using the art of performance.
She tried to understand the oppression
th ey m ig h t have caused or endured.
Contributing even more to her artwork,
she also sewed m ost o f the costum es
herself with help here and there.
The characters d id n ’ t com e out o f
nowhere. It took tim e to research each
one, and to find ancestors that died close
to her age. This was im portant to Mavor
because she didn’t want to pretend to be
a 25-year-old. She wanted to be able to
relate better to them . Plus, the older they
were, the more things they had done.
Mavor explained her thought process
for the project.
Students examine Anne M avor’s artw ork in the Alexander Gallery currently displayed In the Niemeyer Center. The artwork
can be viewed until October 28.
“ I w anted to fin d o ut really the
sources o f racism that didn’t com e out
o f nowhere,” she said.“ It came from the
centuries o f people hurting each other,
and so where would we get the idea that
we could hurt and oppress people based
on their skin color? W here would that
come from ?”
In order to find out, she started her
research with Europe, not even knowing
for sure if she had ancestors there.
Mavor found that she could relate better
to the women compared to the men when
she dressed up as her ancestors. It was
easier for her to be the women, since most
of the men had a part in oppression while
they were alive. But still, she com mitted
to posing for even the difficult photos.
W hen posing as King Edward, she went
w ithout food and w ater for the entire
photo shoot and even started to faint.
M avor w anted h er artw ork to be
displayed in an educational environment,
for classes to visit so that they could
examine and think critically about the
p hotograp hs. Clack am as C o m m u n ity
College is the first to display her work.
W h ile th ere is no set criteria fo r
choosing exhibits for Alexander Gallery,
the Art department does meet to decide
what they would like to see each calendar
year.
Kate Sim m ons, the Alexander Gallery
director and art instructor at the college,
com mented about Mavor’ s artwork.
“ In the media things can immediately
be black and white per se, but what I really
enjoyed learning about A n n e’ s work is
that it’ s not so much black and w hite,”
Sim m ons said ,“ That it also touches on
the oppression aspect and how people
have been put down or allowed limited
resources through time in different ways.
A nd it ’ s really neat to hear d ifferen t
ancestors’ perspectives in that regard.”
P raises w ere ech o ed fro m m an y
students who attended the artist reception
on Thursday, Oct.6.
“ Her being all the same person in the
costumes are really neat,” said student
Angela Durant.
Her friend, Aurora Varkey, nodded in
agreem ent, and said that th e pictures
were awesome.
An evening reception will be held for
the gallery on Thursday, O ct. 13, from
6:30-8:30 p .m . But don’ t fret if you can’ t
make it. There will also be a gallery talk
held on Tuesday, Oct. 25, from 7-8:30 p.m .
If you would like to know more about
Mavor and her ancestors’ stories, visit
her website, annemavor.com. There, you
can listen to her talk about each o f the
ancestors for approximately five minutes
each.
W ith multiple opportunities to go see
the exh ib it, there is still a chance to
find out about M avor’s ancestors, and
reflect on your own. But consider Mavor’s
warning: “ Don’ t get stuck in the g u ilt.”
Keeping that in m ind, would you claim
your heritage too?
Collin Berend contibuted to this article.
4 (Mamas M t OCTOBER 12.2016 thedaclanwitfom