Women’s journeys detailed in art show

Artist Paula Giovanni-Morris explores women’s journeys through her embroideries and beaded Soumak tapestries which are currently on display in the upstairs gallery at Memorial Hall. The thirteen pieces, which glow with vivid colors and beads, mostly explore women’s lives and journeys.

“Day Tripping,” a Soumak tapestry that Morris created in 1991, shows a desert that is reminiscent of Arizona. A road snakes its way across the desert to the horizon, where a big yellow sun sets behind the red and brown hills. This could be the sunset that the proverbial cowboy rides off into. A saguaro cactus stands like a sentinel that guards the desert.

Another piece about journeys, “Return to Oz,” is another Soumak tapestry from 1993. In this miniature tapestry, a small black dog gazes up a yellow road to an emerald city on the horizon. Finally, “The Journey Home,” a Soumak tapestry from 1996, shows a woman with flowing blond hair walking on a road toward a house on the horizon. In these pieces, the objects of desire are always out of reach on the horizon, close enough to see but not close enough to touch.

Most of the remaining pieces focus on women’s lives. “Five Sisters,” an embroidered piece from 1999, shows the silhouettes of five women, with the titles “gorgeous,” “genius,” “bad girl,” “actress,” and “princess.” Each of the women’s faces are beaded, half one color and half another. This piece appears to explore the different facets of women’s personalities.

The “Mask of Friendship,” another collage, appears to explore the dilemma of whether men and women can be “just friends.” The collage includes men and women in pairs, a set of scales with a heart on one end, and phallic imagery. This piece asks a question that humans have pondered for centuries.

“Shattered,” a 2005 embroidery, shows a woman’s face that is shattered into multiple faces with many eyes and mouths. The border of the piece is composed of shards of a mirror, which viewers can see their own distorted faces in. “My Mother, I Am,” a 2011 embroidery, shows a woman’s face that is split down the middle. An older woman’s face, presumably her mother’s, can be seen looking out.

Some of the artwork is unrelated to the other pieces. “Windows and Doors,” an embroidered piece from 2012, shows the profile of a head that is surrounded by knotted neurons. The individual’s brain can be seen through the skull, but instead of gray matter, doors are visible. The eyes might be the windows to the soul, but this piece shows that the mind is the door.

The exhibit is located in Memorial Hall Gallery  239 and will remain open until tomorrow.