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PRESENTATIONS A
PAINTED JOURNEY "THE
POLITICS OF ARTMAKING:
Take an armchair trip from the artist's New Jersey home, up the Garden State Parkway, onto Paris and Spain, travel back to Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart and to public art murals. Listen to the sounds and stories while visiting the scenes that inspired Mijares' realist paintings for over 25 years. "A Painted Journey" has toured schools, community, cancer and caregiver support groups, and 12 nursing homes (HEART Grant, Union County Freeholders, 1998, 1999).
"All
of my paintings are recognizable images. Each painting "I spent months at a rehabilitation center with my mother and learned how long a day could be. I saw personal loss accumulate-loss of loved ones, of physical mobility, of freedom-and weigh heavy on fragile spirits. Art, as it describes existence, goes to those holes and stimulates the senses. Seeing how the creative process evolves serves as template for the sorting and saving of experience-a central concern in the lives of seniors." "I hope to 'transport' the confined, even if just for an hour."
My work as artist and caregiver was featured in a WOR-TV hour-documentary, presented by AARP.
The creators were looking for empty canvases to support their claim that a caregiver's work suffers. Instead, cameramen followed me to document a trip into the Newark subway tunnels, a presentation to a cancer support group, a visit to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a limo ride to the airport to pick up family for a party, painting in the studio, as well as medications administered into my mother's feeding tube, and music selected for her pleasure. During the interview I explained that I had begun my caregiver role with real horror, but in the end I was clear-I believe my own work will gain meaning and become more powerful.
SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
"For My Art's Sake: Facing off with Power"
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