History as Personal Memory was an exhibition at the Slide Room Gallery in February 2018 and curated by Wendy Welch, Director of Vancouver Island School of Art. From the exhibition poster:
“The artists in this exhibition are all of German descent and are addressing the effect WWII had on their lives. While none of them were alive during the war, it has played an enormous role in their personal memories. These memories are based on information gathered from family relations, historical research and poetic imaginings.”
Included in this exhibition were three small works from the series Ruins, a portrait of my father, and three panels from the series, Meditations on the Persistence of Love in a Time of Disaster.
By depicting the image of the rose in dark and distressed drawings, I reclaim the idea of love from a romantic stereotype and affirm its role in political resistance. These roses are drawn with materials that resist many layers of ink and stand in as portraits of those who withstood oppression while claiming compassion as their guide. These three large mixed media drawings are a response to little known stories of German resistance against the Nazi regime. I considered each rose individually while presenting them collectively in a personal act of remembrance. “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi
Cornelia van Voorst 