Cathy Drummond introduces Displaced

We were delighted to learn that Mahone Bay, NS artist Cathy Drummond's work has been accepted into SAQA's global exhibition, Forced to Flee. SAQA members throughout the world were encouraged "to illustrate the issues surrounding the global refugee crises, impacts on families and communities, the stress placed on host countries, and the need for new initiatives, funding, and international cooperation to find solutions to the crisis." 

Cathy's art quilt, Displaced, is one of the 36 pieces from ten countries that were accepted from among the 136 entries. It was the only piece from Canada. Well done Cathy!

Displaced, by Cathy Drummond (2018) w30"xh25"

We asked Cathy Drummond to tell us about her Inspiration for Displaced:

Cathy: A quite beautiful news photo of a small group of people walking along a road first attracted my attention. Only after a few moments did I realize I was looking at two Syrian families fleeing for their lives. 

Displaced (detail)

I couldn't stop thinking about the families in that photo. Their options are so limited and their futures so bleak. I began Displaced by sketching individual people, but soon began thinking about the difficulty of imagining each individual when there are over 65 million of them! How do the refugees keep their sense of self, given their de-humanizing  experience? 

These thoughts led me to instead cut random pieces of cloth, some vaguely human shaped, others not. (Refugee routes must be strewn with abandoned belongings.) I wanted to express dehumanization, exhaustion and grief, as well as the closed doors between displaced people and a new life.

The Forced to Flee exhibition will debut at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts at the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida: May 25 – August 24, 2019, and then travel internationally. Follow the exhibition's travel's here.