I KNEW YOU IN YOUR MOTHER’S WOMB

Media: acrylic painting, stucco cement on board, mustard seed and earthen soil,  historical atlases, lamb blood

Artist: Noreen Dean Dresser

Co-Participant: Andrej Skarica

Andrej's symbol was a tree dividing.

Andrej is a Croatian architect whose mother is Serbian. This description was given by him to me on the phone. He's trying to get her to a safer place in Croatia and was deeply distressed. His mother’s blood runs through his heart.

I created the painting using the stucco wall surface, earth, and tree branches as well as the traditional paint. I wanted to capture the colors of that world. The wall is damaged as any wall would be there now and the tree branch emerges barren into the purple electrical blue sky. The tree is divided by the victory wedge and the roots emerge from the wall covered in blood. Blood splatters down the wall as maps with their stenciled dates of origin are to the left and right of the dividing tree. Historical Atlases quickly reveal who has had a hand in this conflict and the ancient wounds. The blood which also stains the soil is a woman's menstruation and mixed with sheep blood.

Amnesty International has produced a report. Muslim women are being singled out by the Serbian Forces. Postcards were produced, addressed to US Ambassador Madeleine Albright to the United Nations, to plead our case for the upholding of the Geneva Conventions.  

C 1993