How you feeling, America?

On June 12th I put out a call for art on Instagram to see if anyone would like to join me in a virtual group exhibit for July 4th ’22. The theme was to ask ourselves how we are feeling as Americans and/or about this country right now. There were no requirements except to express feelings through art and send me a picture of whatever resulted by July 3rd. The only suggestion was to make the artwork using the shape of the contiguous US map,  something like the wood cut-out July 4th decor I had seen at Target stores recently.

Many artists told me they wanted to join but were too emotionally exhausted or overwhelmed to participate right now. I feel you. Please take care of yourselves. To all the artists who answered this call, thank you for creating thoughtful pieces of art on such short notice and during a historically uncertain time for our country. Thank you for joining me in taking a deeper look at ourselves in this moment and being brave enough to share artwork showing us how you felt. You have created objects and images of Americana that are beautiful and fascinating. Over the past few years I have been exploring emotionalism in art and I was so curious to see what you would create from your gut feelings. You blew me away.

The call for art came before I knew all the decisions SCOTUS would be making for this country. Unlike SCOTUS, I did not want to persuade or influence any participating artists with my own views. I wanted this project to be open to anyone and for everyone to be free to express themselves. I am grateful we still have the luxury in this country to express our feelings through art without censorship. While we may take it for granted or not want to get “political” in our art, it is a powerful privilege we artists ought to take advantage of more frequently, especially in times like these.

– Olivia Arrow Dhamee

Artwork posted in the order it was received. If you are interested in purchasing any of the artists’ work, please contact them directly. Most of their Instagram handles are listed, otherwise I can put you in touch with them.

All artwork copyright the artists as listed.

This exhibit is permanent (or at least as long as I have this website)