Systems Failure Art Collection
SYSTEMS FAILURE, Artistic Reflections by Dorothea Sandra
There’s a health and healing story to this unique collection of 15 paintings created in 2020. Here’s Part 2.
My journey continued with the creation of The Triangular Door.
Four paintings reflecting on the theme of Systems Failures had been completed, but those loud, crazy, annoying noises inside my head had still not gone away. Like someone who had failed at a project or task, I felt no closure or emotional release. I decided to loosen up, shut out all controls, and just let the abstract art take over and come flying out. It flew out in hard, messy lines…colors that didn’t quite match…streaks and drizzles and dabs and dots, and completing The Triangular Door showed me my original revelation of SYSTEMS FAILING was deep and complex, but there was no hope of a simple doorway fix.
The Triangular Door by Dorothea Sandra (20”x16” acrylic on canvas)
The next painting in this collection became a conflicted delight. Although The Doorway came out lighter and brighter and lovely in so many ways—deep inside…that place where one’s truth and the artist’s spirit lives—I knew my SYSTEMS FAILURE journey had not even come close to an end. ‘Why am I still on this side of the door?’ was the question that kept pricking at me inside my head.
The Doorway by Dorothea Sandra (20”x16” acrylic on canvas)
What followed was a personal disappointment. Even though this much larger (36”x36”) painting’s cool, cheerful colors and sexy swooping lines makes it so awesome to be near, I was angry and frustrated and highly critical of myself because, personally, I NEEDED TO MOVE FORWARD AND UNDERSTAND OUR SYSTEMS FAILURES—BUT ACCORDING TO MY ART—I WAS STILL STUCK ON THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR! I do not like shifting blame, so instead of condemning this beautiful work of art, I chose to be fair and kind and gave it—completely separate from my inner artist problems—a name it deserved. I called it The Happy Door.
The Happy Door by Dorothea Sandra (48”x36” acrylic on canvas)
What came out next was a surprise. It is a work of art of which I am quite proud. I created Health Systems Failure—first and foremost—as a beautiful/cool work of art, BUT I also wanted to make a social statement with it. While painting I was thinking about OUR HEROIC HEALTHCARE WORKERS managing so brilliantly through a Health System that had (for years) failed to prepare. I am EDAC certified, and one of the key components of evidence-based design is designing/preparing healthcare facilities for emergencies and health disasters. In the bottom left of the painting, I reflect the seriousness of the virus. (I lost a fit/healthy cousin to the virus in March.) Other lines represent the fight and tireless efforts of our healthcare workers helping us through it. The golden streaks convey feelings of success and victory. I was still on this side of the door, but through this painting, when it came to the subject of Systems Failure, I felt my art was finally getting real!
Health Systems Failure by Dorothea Sandra (48”x36” acrylic on canvas)
Communication Systems Failure soon followed. The news networks had been blaring conflicting stories for weeks. They were so slanted and biased in their presentations, I could actually predict what the commentators (did not matter which channel) would say before opening their mouths to speak. To make matters worse, I kept coming in contact with people who believed we were all equal now. For whatever their reasons, they held rock-solid beliefs that racism had ended and sexism had ended and Systems Failures never existed. Have you ever tried participating in a conversation with one-sided, closed-minded, cement-solid people like this? All the jagged and uneven lines that do not really flow or connect in Communication Systems Failure are artistic reflections of this.
Communication Systems Failure by Dorothea Sandra (36”x48” acrylic on canvas)
…continued in my final blog, Part 3. Perhaps getting annoyed and aggravated with the news networks and people wasn’t all that bad. It did —finally—catapult my art to the other side of that door!