The spirit can handle some amazing tests of emotional strength, and even triumph over what the flesh can’t handle, but it’s the flesh that sometimes bears the scars.
With that truth in mind, a group of artists chose to create an exhibition that gives a voice to survivors of all kinds: Indomitable Spirits II: Proud Flesh is a collection of 35 evocative images and is the second exhibit by members of the Indomitable Spirits project, a collaborative of artists of every skill level, who share their personal stories of human courage and survival through art.
Hancock Gallery Director Marti Fast said the expression “proud flesh” references the manner in which a horse’s skin heals over a wound—”stronger, unhidden, and pure evidence of its life experiences. This meaning prompted the group to choose the phrase as its title, because it reflected their goal to use art to heal their wounds and openly reveal their experiences to help others recover.
The artists worked under the direction of artist and Cal Poly professor emeritus Joanne Beaule Ruggles, meeting regularly for more than two years.
The Indomitable Spirits Project was founded in 2005 after Ruggles received an Art Inspires Artist Grant from the James Irvine Foundation and San Luis Obispo Community Foundation. Under that grant, Ruggles proposed to facilitate the creation of art that gave a voice to people who needed to express their struggles, whether in dealing with a life-threatening illness, personal tragedy, or other seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Ruggles is herself a survivor. Faced with a cancer diagnosis and memory of her own 35-year-old sister dying from the disease, Ruggles left full-time teaching in 2004 to concentrate on healing. During the process, she developed her artwork and taught occasional studio workshops. Eventually, she recognized the therapeutic value of her art and how art could help others in a similar way. That’s when she envisioned the Indomitable Spirits Project.
Indomitable Spirits II: Proud Flesh is the second exhibition from the project, consisting of work from more than a dozen artists. Participants generated art from assigned topics such as “oppositions,” “control,” and “the unknown,” which gave participants a starting point for telling their individual stories and helped them realize that there were similarities in their shared, diverse experiences of survival.
In the flesh
The Indomitable Spirits II: Proud Flesh project will be on display through Dec. 15 in the Ann Foxworthy Gallery, inside the Academic Resource Center building, and the Student Center Gallery in building G. Both are on the Santa Maria campus.
For more information on the Indomitable Spirits Project, visit indomitablespirits.com or flickr.com/photos/indomitablespirits.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone enjoys triumphs of the human spirit. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 4-11, 2008.