“The Moment Before Forgiveness” wins art award in Eureka, CA
As part of a KEET-TV’s Campaign For Love and Forgiveness and a community outreach initiative to encourage participation in the arts, KEET-TV initiated the Compassion In Contemporary Art Contest with the Ink People Center for the Arts. Inspired by the PBS contemporary art television series ART:21 - Art In the 21st Century, KEET-TV invited North Coast residents to use their art to convey how we see ourselves and the world today and to try their hand at creating work that explores the theme of compassion.
The First Place Award went to Marceau Verdiere of McKinleyville for his acrylic painting titled “The Moment Before Forgiveness.” Verdiere stated, “I approached the theme of forgiveness by focusing on what leads to forgiveness, and wanted to show the difficulty in arriving to that moment. Forgiveness is a celebration of sorts, but it takes a lot of courage and will to get there, and there is a moment just before, a still fragile moment of reaching out, daring and risking. But as the piece shows, it is also a moment that leads to a more light-filled moment, a rise from the depth of shame, guilt and selfishness.”
The Second Prize was awarded to Lunel Haysmer of Eureka with the colored pencil triptych, “Bringing Compassion into the World.” “This piece was done when I was at an all-time bottom,” Haysmer said, “and came from a place of spirit that didn’t have anything to do with me. It was comforting to feel that at a time when I didn’t see the beauty in my life, that it came out anyway.”
The Third Place Prize went to Kati Texas of Eureka for her acrylic and collage on sign board piece, “The Weight of Pain.” Texas stated that “‘The Weight of Pain’ illustrates how it feels when one lets the pain of the past drag down the present, and the lengths to which someone might need to go so that they may breathe (easy) again.”
Submitted by: Roselle Kovitz