Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, November 16, 2011, Page 20, Image 20

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PaSc 20____________________________________
T erry F amily
Fortiani» (Dbsemer
2337 N. Williams Ave.
Portland, Or 97227
503-249-1788
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Dwight A. Terry
Oregon l icense CO-3644
Amy S. Terry
Oregon License FS-0395
November 16.2011
Rap on
Multiculturalism
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
Shumann etches a portrait of herself
in black and white, detailing the
countours of her face and hair with
eye-popping patterns that reflect
her travels; flowery motifs from
Barcelona, little llamas from Peru,
and piles of seaweed from the Or­
egon Coast.
“I always find myself slightly
under whelmed with the culture that
has surrounded me growing up, cre­
ating a deep curiosity for other cul­
tures throughout the world,” she
said in an artists’ statement.
A triangular display o f blank
flags hoisted on the wall was
B re n n an B ro o m e and C h lo e
W om ack’s interpretation o f what
it meant to belong to a place, cu l­
ture, and country, and then have
that identity removed, “Who does
such a flag represent?” read their
artist statem ent, “W hat does it
stand for?”
In another project about iden­
tity, Liam O ’Conner displayed a
series of portraits of subjects from a
wide range of backgrounds -France,
Malaysia, Poland, South Korea,
etc.— all wearing the same latex
mask.
Disturbing to the ignorant eye,
each face appeared deformed. Cov­
ered by a second-skin plastering
with mouths agape, the personal
and cultural identity of the indi­
vidual is obscured.
‘T his distortion plays with the
idea that identity is something that
is only skin deep,” said O ’Conner in
his artist statement.
Unlike other displays, in Male
Identified, male-performerTakahiro
Yakamoto used facial and bodily
gestures in a sequence of move­
ments to deconstruct the nuances
of maleness.
In 15 minutes, Yakamoto tests
the unease of the sitting crowd’s
perception towards artistic self ex­
pression. Silently and slowly, with
only a white square mat and a white
chair as props, he moves frame by
frame, from fully clothed to naked
three times.
Often, his work explores the dy­
namic communication among the
work itself, the viewer, the location,
the time, and the performer. Perfor­
mance and sculpture allow him to
explore the intricacies and simplici­
ties of human communication in
everyday life.
“This approach allows the per­
former to become a mirror, in a post­
modern sense,” said Yakamoto. In­
viting the viewers to reflect upon
their own self-perception and con­
template the idea of gender and cri­
teria fo r‘normal’”.
Girls Empowered
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 13
N e w S o n g C o m m u n it y C e n t e r
2511 NE M IK Blvd * Portland, OR 97212
Corner of NE M IK Blvd and Russell Street
Doors open at 6pm for every service.
For directions or more information, call 503-488-5481
or log on to w w w .m fh m p o r tla n d .c o m
instruction is geared to help kids
steer themselves away from abu­
sive relationships, choose healthier
partners, and form more open and
safe relationships as adults.
Eighth grader Arabella Zook fre­
quently walks by herself to and from
school, but says she feels safer after
having learned self-defense.
“You can use your intuition if
something feels wrong,” she said.
Myeesha Morris chimes in with
some of the options she learned
about safety.
“If you're outside walking by
yourself-your instincts pop in,” she
said, “You can defend, call 911, or
run to the closest house.”
Courtney Ford said that she not
only learned how to defend herself,
but gained confidence and self-es­
teem.
“D on’t let boys get you all
messed up,” she warns.
Meeting up with her instructor
and female classmates helped Ford
through her 7th grade year when a
lot of bullying was going around.
“It helped me then, and it will help
me in high school and the rest of my
life,” she said.
“[GirlStrength] encourages your­
self to be a better person,” said
Chinwendu Ughamba. “And learn
for yourself ho w to higher your self­
esteem.”
Not everybody has it so good at
home says one of the girls, so it is
important for them to be able to talk
to people at school and use the
resources available to them there.
Faubion c o u n selo r K ristina
Lasher said last year a female stu­
dent survived an attack by some­
one she knew . She used her
GirlStrength skills to yell and fight
back and broke the code of silence.
“It’s important to talk after the
event,” said Lasher.
Healing is another subject on the
class curriculum.
When asked if they would rec­
ommend GirlStrength to other girls,
Morris, Ford, and Chinwendu shout
Yes!” in unison.
Carolyne Haycraft gages the suc­
cess of the program by how many
girls are lining up to talk about their
experience a year after the fact with
willingness and enthusiasm.
She hopes resources may permit
a similar class for boys.