Last week I attended the art show, which featured the work of Nicholas Carbonaro. The first piece that stood out to me was titled “Refugees”. The faces appear waxy, as if having been recently embalmed. The way in which their faces emerged from the cloth made it seem like they were pushing against a veil between the world of the living and that of the dead. The color of the plaster cloth, a faded brown and red, looked like it had been stained by blood and dirt. This piece seemed as if it had stood the test of time. This speaks to the story of refugees who endure lives of fear and hardship in order to reach safety and peace. I spoke with Nicholas who did not come from a refugee family but was inspired by their stories. Nicholas was amazed by how refugees often carried just one rucksack or bundle containing all the things they would need to survive so he showed a refugee family encased in such a bundle to show how that even in the most horrifying circumstances, the love of family is the refugee’s saving grace. The piece itself has its own story of survival after it was nearly thrown out by Nicholas’s father but saved by his brother. However, I don’t think this truly captured the spirit of the refugee because the faces appear dead, immobile and are painted a dull gray. Refugees are often on the run and live in high-stress situation with a lot of emotion involved, showing a lot of vitality and energy. I think the strength of the family plays a huge role to refugees, but I think that the message of the family being the saving grace of the life of the refugee makes it rather one-dimensional, as it doesn’t give proper due to the more predominant features such as the prevailing fear and lack of freedom, autonomy, and power.

Another piece that caught my eye was “Fat Cat”. Nicholas spoke to the crowd about being around transgender people in his community as he was growing up. This piece shows an androgynous figure with the left half of the person’s body presented as a woman and the right half presented as a man. The left side shows thicker, curled eyelashes and a sagging breast while the right side does not share these features. The right side is also partly hidden within the shadows so its featured aren’t emphasized as much and fade into the couch and the blanket. It’s interesting because there’s nothing inherently female about thicker eyelashes or a sagging breast and you could find those features on a man but that’s where the mind goes when comparing it to the right side of the body. This makes the audience aware of our need to identify and classify others because we try to distinguish the male or female characteristics when gender identity is fluid. This reminded me of when Laverne Cox began to rise in the media and interviewers kept asking her about her transition and surgeries. While being interviewed by Katie Couric, who asked a series of invasive questions, she talked about how the preoccupation with the physical transition process objectifies trans people. I’m not sure if this was the intent of the artist but while viewing this piece, I think the audience is complicit in that sort of objectification.