It Has Always Been This Way - Tumblr Posts
It Has Always Been This Way
𝘐𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘺 by Heather Lee Birdsong, 2020, gouache on paper, 24 x 18 1/8 inches. Photos by Mario Gallucci. This painting is about the human tendency to see existing systems as unchangeable, even though history tells us that’s rarely true. That faulty belief is often used as a crutch and a bludgeon to defer responsibility and silence those who seek to address wrongs. The sentiment feels even more significant in the midst of a pandemic (which is still not actually over, despite most people and institutions meant to protect us deciding to feign ignorance) and powerful demonstrations confronting the effects of racism in policing. The plants that appear in the foreground—California fan palm, leafy spurge, Canada thistle, oleander, pampas grass and tree tobacco—are all invasive to the Mojave desert, the landscape of my childhood. I did not know these familiar species were invasive until after I moved to the Pacific Northwest. The depicted plants also are all in bloom in September, because of course I pursued that kind of temporal logic, when it was totally unnecessary and not meaningful to anyone but me. That’s the artist’s privilege, I suppose. Original version below. I had to unframe and repaint a significant portion of it. I unknowingly used a fugitive pink pigment the first time (read those lightfastness ratings!). I did not document what it looked like faded because it made me feel physically ill. You can see that I did not attempt to repaint the sky—the blue is cooler and brighter-looking in the final version—but I actually wound up with a stronger painting as a result, I think. I also had to pay the framer again to put it all back together properly, so I’m glad I was able to sell the finished piece and see it off to a good home.
