July 16, 2024 • 40 mins
Description: Theo heads over to Painted Brain LA to meet with artist-in-residence Amanda Nicholson, whose work explores the diversity and uniqueness of the unhoused experience. Plus, Theo checks in for Unhoused News all the way from Washington DC, where he just finished covering the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference.
Follow Painted Brain LA: https://paintedbrain.org/
Help Keep a Queer Black Femme Moving! Fundraiser: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/82Prif
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Previously on Winnian House.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
For far too long, our criminal justice system has failed
our most vulnerable community members. It has disproportionately targeted Black,
Indigenous and LATINX communities, trapping them in a vicious cycle
of poverty, trauma, and incarceration. Seventy four percent of those
arrested in Los Angeles County are Black.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
And Latin X. Our jails are.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Overflown with individuals who are sick, who are poor, and
who are experiencing homelessness and struggling with mental health and
steps since use disorders. This is not justice, This is
a systemic failure.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
South Central's Brightest East LA Committee Compton's Cavalry wants health
workers the heartbeats of the city because we are who
we say we are, and we are all that we
were ever meant to be. And there's nothing that they
could ever say, nothing.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That they could ever do to stop us.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Because when we start Welcome back to he In House.
I'm your host, Theo Henderson. This week I stepped into
(01:13):
the field in a totally different direction, though the topic
is houselessness. I was invited to observe a form of
artistic expression on houselessness by Amanda Nicholson, one of the
artists and residents at Painted Brain in LA. The exhibit
was called in Fits You, and Amanda's pieces show various
(01:35):
fats as the houselessness. We will be taking you there,
but first on House News. This week's on House News,
it's taking place in Muggie, Washington, d C. In case
you missed it, we are experiencing heat waves around the country.
Our unhoused community needs cold water ice packs to avoid
(01:58):
heat related illnesses. With this in mind, I have been
asking officials the location of the cooling stations. Weeian House
conducted a survey to find out on Twitter on July ninth,
twenty twenty four, I asked, does Mayor Muriel Bowser care
if the unhoused community dying in this heat wave? Ninety
(02:20):
two percent said no, the mayor does not care. An
eight percent said yes. This prompted Mayor Bowser's staff one
day later to respond. They stated they have an interactive
map and information to free accessible transportation to a cooling station.
The shelter has an emergency number which is two O
(02:43):
two three nine nine seven zero ninety three or call
three one one DC Gov. I did an informal outreach
on the story, and only one unhoused person out of
the people that I talked to knew that they had
a cooling station. Any of the unhoused community are not
plugged into an interactive map or have a phone or
(03:05):
it being charged. Los Angeles seemed to be chumping at
the bit and the light of the Supreme Court decision
on Grant's past ruling. The setting is in Little Tokyo.
On Monday, July seven, twenty twenty four, the Los Angeles
Police Department zeroed in on the unhoused community during a
(03:27):
heat wave, weaponizing the American Disability Act against the unhoused
community its nasty work to force evictions from the area.
When forty one eighteen was in effect, the city was
limited in how the city removed the unhoused community. With
the Grand Pass ruling, officials don't have to offer services
(03:49):
or shelter to remove the unhoused. In other parts of
the country, we land in Clackamas County, where commissioners proposed
a new coal to target unhouse RV and campers. These
vehicles are being called Nusance RV and campers under the
proposed code changes. If an RV or camper is being
(04:12):
lived in. It impacts health and safety, and the people
have refused to leave despite prior notice or outreach efforts.
The Sheriff's office could get a warrant and use reasonable
force if necessary to remember whoever lives there and have
their vehicles told. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed has
(04:34):
vowed more encamp misweeps against the unhoused community in light
of the Supreme Court decision on Grant's past ruling. Reed
and Nimbi's have been opposed to Martin Versus Boys's decision
on treating the unhoused community with empathy. They were part
of the cabal to sue against Martin Versus Boys. Finally,
(04:55):
in Massachusetts, unhoused families are barred from sleeping overnight in
the Logan Airport. Emergency Director Scott Wright dated, families are
arriving in Massachusetts must look elsewhere in the airport or
emergency shelters which are at capacity. Governor Mara Healey announced
new show to capacity for one hundred and forty unhoused
(05:17):
families and phasing out the airport is in the best
interests for the customers and families.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
This is n houseless.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We'll be right back with Artists in Residence Amanda Nicholson.
Welcome back to Weedian House. I'm THEO Henderson. We take
you now to Painting Brain, where I spoke with Los
Angeles based artists and residence Amanda Nicholson. I was thrilled
(05:49):
to speak with her about her work, her processes, and
how the final product illustrated different aspects of being unhoused.
Like we always say on the show, are not a monolith,
and Amanda's work demonstrates that beautifully. Here's the first part
of our conversation.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
All right, So there were six artists in total that
were part of this residency. Creatives in Residence are exhibits
called in c TU. The text on the floor and
along the walls is by Tyler Bradley. She's a spoken
word artist and a mixed media artist, and she has
another mixed media piece a little later on and in
(06:37):
the exhibit that we'll check out. Moving on, we have
two large prints by Tam tanganin close Friends, super helpful
to me throughout this process, and she has some mixed
media prints as well as a poetry book.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Please feel free to flip through and check it out.
They're broken piece and discarded scrap interesting.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yeah, and you'll see out of play between the different pieces.
So like broken pieces also end up showing up in
some of my works as well, so you'll see that
continuity with a couple of things throughout the space. By yes,
TAM's zine is on sale for ten bucks.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Okay, a little drop there and you're moving on. This
is my first piece.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
It's called the Hardest Part and it's a use of
physical materials to represent the hardships and difficulties of housing insecurity.
It's a collaborative piece, so it includes myself as well
as you THEO you made it to the piece, harm
reduction advocate Max Flower, holistic health coach Yula Sledge, and
(07:45):
actually Tam, so there's a contribution from Tam in this
piece as well. There's eight materials in total, includes concrete, nails,
broken glass legos to represent a tableau of a sweep
encampment sweep, a narcan box surrounded with flowers, a pothos plant,
(08:10):
and a heart in a spam can some yeah, yeah,
and then some rubber duckies and so we can kind
of go through real quick. So for concrete, it really
is just about representing both the physical situation of being
(08:31):
on the street, of sitting on the sidewalk contemplating your life,
not understanding.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Exactly, and also anywhere you sit.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Even if we think about physical concrete seating in spaces,
you're shoot away from those places. You can't sit, you
can't lay, And so it was important for me to
grab concrete for this. I actually got it off of
a side of a building that has since been demolished
in just the four months that I was in residency
in the South LA near my house. Then we have nails,
(09:03):
and nails serve two purposes and the exhibit they're kind
of anchor pointing straight up, and that is to the
nails represent you know, kind of what holds benches together,
but it also represents anti home as architecture, which again yeah,
which again prevents Burthol from being able to rest. This
(09:23):
is all on the first layer of this piece, which
has three shelves. The third piece is third contribution is
broken glass.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Or shattered glass that I actually found.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
There's a lot of found materials throughout all of the work,
and I happen to find in the area some broken
like shelves in a refrigerator on the street, and so
I was like, yes, exactly what I needed and scooped
it up into a bag and it just it represents
broken dreams, the fragility of life. Even kind of we
(09:54):
think about touching glass, it's this, you know, something sharp,
you know it's hazardous, it's going to make you eat,
and that homelessness is really like bleeding you dry every
day that you're going through it.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Thousand men, a thousand cuts, they pinpricks exact.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
On the second shelf, we have a tableau of a
sweep with legos.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So there's some found legos.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
I found them right outside the center, run over in
traffic and again was like that's it and grabbed them up.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
And at first it was just going to represent foundation, but.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You'll see in another piece within the exhibit I used
legos again. So as I was kind of assembling that piece,
I was like, I have a sanitation looking kind of worker,
and I have a broom. It would be foolish to
not create this representation of a sweep using legos and
really the intention behind it. As well as miniatures like
(10:50):
miniature possessions, books, baskets, cups, pans, cereal kind of food,
all kind of being swept aside and treated like trash,
and that's to represent that so many people are treated
like trash, literally discarded, their possessions, discarded because they have
a physical or mental disability, and that being swept away
is something that is very painful and traumatic, not just
(11:13):
for the people experiencing it, but anybody who's a witness
to it, And six homeless people die a day here
in La County, and it was really important that I
was able to point that out in this piece. After that,
we have a box of Narcan, which is a collaboration
with harm reduction advocate Max Flower, and it's surrounded by flowers.
(11:34):
At the opening they were fresh, but now we found
some beautiful artificial who longs to take its place. And
it really speaks to the fact that when you're in
a society, you're being dehumanized. You're trying to figure out
how to manage you're dealing with emotional and physical pain.
You need some sort of care, right, you need medical care. Unfortunately,
(11:55):
when you're on housed, especially if you get swept and
you lose your insurance, your idea, it's very difficult to
access health care.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And so that's where.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Street medicine comes into play, and folks have to do
what they have to do to survive. It's not about
demonizing or kind of creating a hierarchy for substances, but
being honest about what conditions caused people to use substances
in the first place. And then on the third shelf,
we have a plant, which this is a collaborative piece
(12:24):
as well, or collaborative contribution from Tam tangan In, and
the plant really represents the sense of home. And Tam
remembers a time in her own life where she had
a house full of plants, and then she also went
through housing and security and became unhoused. And so when
she got a new pothos in her new space, she
(12:44):
called it Traveler and she ended up including an excerpt
from her poem in her book or in her zine Longing.
And then this is from longing for home. Home is
the feeling of freedom to be comfortable in a space,
whether it be a city or a room, that moment
when you relax into it, that is when you are
finally free. Yeah. Yes, it was really important for me
(13:08):
to once I knew that Tam had this kind of
poem going into the z and I was like, that
really speaks to what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I need you to collabor with me on this.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
The next one we have is you THEO and you're
and it's a it's you know, for the space that's provided.
I've used a pile of socks, but it represents laundry.
And this is to quote you. I'm disabled and was stabbed.
Everything you do requires stomach muscles. Also, Los Angeles has hills.
(13:40):
Try doing laundry under those conditions. And what really excited
me about this particular contribution is in a piece called
the Hardest Part the Softest Thing. It sucks, you know
what I mean, Something so simple that easily taken for
(14:01):
granted becomes such a hard ship.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
And then the final contribution is from my mom, who's
a holistic health car and she she spoke to the
rubber duckies and what it says, this is a quote
from her. Basic amenities are not a luxury, a place
to bathe do laundry, a mailbox and storage for one's property.
(14:25):
It goes without saying, safe housing and food, a hot
bath where you can feel the water rising.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Up around your shoulders.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
And so we've got two rubber duckies here to kind
of represent that luxury of hygiene, particularly in a bath
that really isn't a luxury.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
People took baths long before they took showers. In fact,
all it bore.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So I want to take a quick moment to talk
about you are the activist of artists and residents.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Tell us a little bit about that. What was that
like and how did you get to be the artistan.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
With just took a chance on applying because I saw
it in an Instagram ad and it it ended up
really working out in my favor. And it's exciting to
use my experience and what I've learned in my not
just my own lived experience, but in working mutual aid
(15:19):
with other people. Really the impact of homelessness in a
way that is not have happening in conversations. We're not
talking about impact through the lens of humanity, and that's
that really eats at me. So it was really cool
to have this opportunity to make some pieces, pull materials together,
(15:39):
be in spaces and be inspired by others. And there's
so many great artists in the residency, so that's why
I'm happy to talk about all their works too, because
we really contributed to each other's like inspiration and growth
through this.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So can you tell us a little bit about Painted Brain. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
So Painted Brain is a community center in mid c
although they may be moving kind of soon, and they
offer just open studio space to the community three days a.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Week so that they can make art.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
There's workshops happening every day, but you're not required to participate,
and they offer residencies to kind of expand on having
an impact in the arts community.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Wow, that's impressive. How long is the activist artists and residence?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
So the residency was about four months in total, and
it finished on May third, that's when we had our
opening and we'll be wrapping up next week. So our
exhibition will be or is open currently and has been
will be open in total about a month.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Because of this is so impactful and it shouldn't die all.
Would you create a moving kind of artists kind of thing,
more kind of mobile kind of.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Thing, particularly for this piece. The hardest part.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
What I envisioned for it in the beginning was a
public art installation. And I'm very inspired by Alison Tsar
because she's done public art both in New York or
I'm from and here in LA and I've really seen
the impact of her public art, particularly in black and
brown neighborhoods. And I really want to in the end
(17:14):
see the hardest part on the street. No one has
to have a special invitation. Doesn't matter what time of
day it is. You can be reminded of the hardships
of homelessness, not in a kind of easy to cast
a sideway when we're witnessing actual human beings, but in
a way that makes you ponder the comforts or lack
of comfort in your own life. Oh well said, we
(17:37):
can kind of move into the next space.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And then peace. Okay, okay, let's see real quick before
we leave this room.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I just want to highlight that we have eleven paintings
on the wall, and thereby tr Son and they are
a rapper as well and a musician, and they created
at the opening this wearable machine in addition to these
beautiful paintings, and I want to draw attention to the
mushrooms in one of the pieces. And I remember from
(18:03):
TR's beautiful performance at the opening that each piece represents
a different light in the light spectrum, so you know, gamma,
UV X ray and things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Impressive. All right, we can leave the way. Yes, he's
in the third room, and we'll actually go this way
around the space and then we'll come back to this sign.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
So first we have three paintings and a triptych and
that's by tays Net and Teya is an environmental focused artist.
It was very important for her to reflect the impact
of microplastics or connection to the earth in her pieces.
She has another piece that we'll reference and we'll check
(18:44):
out just a little bit later. And so each piece
has beautiful paintings as well as poetry, and it's speaking
about everything from toxic rain, to microplastics to the connection
with the earth. So it really is eye opening when
you step into the room. One is red, one is blue,
and then one is green, and they're each kind of showing.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Their own little vignette or concept.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
So after that we have this is Tonka Land by
Ezekiel Goodwin. And of all the artists, Ezekiel set forth
this intention to really represent each person in the residency
because he had the opportunity to meet everyone in both
quick cohorts, so he really wanted to reflect that in
(19:32):
his piece.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
And so we have this beautiful mural of a woman.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
She has indigenous directions like in coloring as her jewelry,
and she's holding a book.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
And her shirt is blue.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
She's got this beautiful kind of like orange and shades
of orange kind of sunset or moon behind her, expends
on what you kind of receive it as as well
as these beautiful white flowers around her.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
And she's holding a book.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
And the book that she's holding in the metaphorical represents Tyler,
who we spoke about earlier, and also represents this woman
or this image, this person learning about Tonga Land, learning
about her own indigenous connection to the land and her people.
And so her hands are actually cosmic, which Ezekiel had
(20:22):
shared with some folks, was partially inspired by me and
was really spoke to this idea of getting in alignment
with the universe, having a spiritual connection, and spirituality will
actually show up more in this room as we move
through the space. And then she also has this kind
of like cosmic starry imagery also coming from her scout
(20:44):
to represent the consciousness really integrating into her own line. Yeah,
as she's reading, and so around the mural it has
a shelf with some books that say this is Tonga Land.
I can actually tell you what the four books are.
The first book is The Serpent and the Rainbow by
Wade Davis.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
The second is nineteen eighty.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Four by George Orwell, which work on a living in
the third is The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King,
and the fourth is The Wretched of the Earth by
France Fannin, which is actually on my reading list.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
For the year.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
And then it also has plants around it. At the opening,
Ezekiel had indigenous followers as well as seeds of indigenous
plants for folks to take home.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
So I actually have some of Ezekiel's peace at my house.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
And there's also a mushroom, which I pointed that out
in TR's piece, and you'll continue to what we talk
about mushrooms more so, moving on to this wall, the
last piece. This is also by Teya who did the triptych,
and this is actually a mysolium network and it represents
the mushroom network underground and the root system of trees and
how that's actually how trees are able to communicate. And
(21:57):
this was an interactive piece where you could actually attach
your own kind of message and share what grounds you,
what person places her thing grounds you or makes you
feel love. It's like a black or darker background with
beautiful light gray my ciliums, wiggles and squiggles and dots
all throughout.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
When we come back, Amanda and I continue this discussion.
Welcome back to Weedian House where I'm in the field
at Painted Brain in LA. Thank you for continuing our
artistic exploration and the mind of artists and residence Amanda Nicholson.
(22:40):
Here's the rest of our talk as she guided me
through the exhibit and her work.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
All right, we're going to get into one of my pieces.
This is called Rules of Policies and Procedures, and.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
This is printed on metal.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I had the opportunity to make this medal, so I'm
very excited and I'm happy to read it to y'all.
So the first says mission and in quotes Policies and Procedures. One,
we are saving you from the outside world. You're welcome. Two,
we profit from your crisis. Please remain in crisis.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Three.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Good people don't go to poverty prison. You must be
lazy or use drugs. Four people who use drugs deserve
the absolute worst.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
And we are proud to give it to them.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Five Celebrities donate to the nonprofit Industrial Complex and for
Caring about you bums.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
They deserve lower taxes. Six.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
If a security guard is harassing you, find a new
place to live. That's how you solve that.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Number.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Seven temporary overnight rain shelter schedule. Sign up four pm, confirm,
check in, seven pm, curfew, nine pm, exit four am
back into the rain.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
You are escaping.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And that is a reference to the policy at Father
Joe's in San Diego, where they really do put people
back out in the rate do ith, Yeah, Father Joes
put me through the ringer. Eight we have no services
for people with disabilities. Our security costs are too high.
Nine we have no hot water or toilet paper. Our
(24:18):
security costs are too high. Ten we seek to break
your spirit so that you may be mentally trapped here, period, forever.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Period. That's the first sign.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
The second reads grand in quotes hotel rules number one.
Please remove your humanity and place it in the bin
to the left. You no longer need it here. Two
are the part You are a participant of a program
in italics. Therefore, you are our property. We will throw
you out and away as we see fit, often in
(24:49):
violation of the United Nations Human Right to adequate housing
and the guidelines for the implementation of the right to
adequate housing. Three you will eat, sleep, and wake as
we see fit. Failure to follow check ins and curfews
will lead to in parentheses, homelessness.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Four.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
We will check you and check on you as we
see fit. You left your privacy and dignity in the
bin at the door. Failure to allow us to violate
you will lead to in parentheses homelessness.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Five.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
We wipe our asses with your grievances. No one cares
about the bad things that happen to you. Feel free
to keep filing them. Six you will have a false
due process. If we kick you out, you can appeal,
but exits from the program will go through bureaucracy to
be overturned. Seven we will purposely mistreat you. You know
(25:42):
you were a bum with no life, bleeding the system
dry because you're too lazy to work when you arrived.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Eight. People like you need people like us. Nine.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Staff may very well be living in the next program,
but here they are your overseer.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And ten.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Smoke in the areas with the no smoking signs doesn't
make sense. Cognitive dissonance is your life. Your life doesn't
make sense. And for this piece, I really wanted to
use a lot of overt sarcasm, but also a lived experience,
not just for myself but for other people of what
they've been exposed to, whether they've dealt with congregate shelters,
(26:20):
bridge homes, interim housing programs, savior kind of complex programs,
recovery programs. No matter what the options are when it
comes to housing, you are almost always guaranteed that you
will be limited in your ability.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
To live as a free adult.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
And we'll see that show up again in another piece
in a little bit after that. We have when life
gives you lemons. This is an installation piece, So it's
a shopping cart, and that shopping cart includes vividly first
see a lot of lemons in different bags, but when
you start to look more closely at the piece, you
(27:01):
realize that there's also other things.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Kind of going on.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
So, yeah, there's two suitcases. There's a suitcase, a luggage,
a book bag, and a purse. And in addition to
lemons being inside of them, there's a three day notice
to pay rent or move out. The plaintiff is landhorders
are us, and the defendants are the disabled, the poor,
and the underpaid. And so you see that eviction notice
(27:30):
sticking out, but you also see sprinkles of humanity. And
it was really important for me in this piece to
show that, you know, it's easy to see someone pushing
a shopping cart and write off what may be inside,
or see someone on the sidewalk, and.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
This is your Yes, this is also me. This is
also me.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
And so inside of the suitcases you see kind of
socks coming out, but inside of the shopping cart overall
you see like a rose, a.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Rain poncho, a razor, some toothpasted.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
And some body wash kind of sticking out of different
pieces of the one of the suitcases in the book
bag where the purse is kind of nestled inside of
and we can get closer a bit, I can see
what's on the other side. It's important for me to
have personal materials like a toothbrush, a headband. Even there's
an old shoe, a shoe from my cut off the
(28:27):
list collection and attached to the bottom of the shoe,
it has a quote from C. S. Lewis that says,
you can't go back and change the beginning, but you
can start where you are.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
And change the end.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
On one of the suitcases, it says inside all of
us is a wild thing. Inside the other side of
the book bag it says, some days you have to
create your own sunshine. And on the other side of
the book bag is a sticker which has like a
graphic novel style woman crying as well as a cannabis nugget.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And it says, hello, hot box, I need the dank.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
We also have a living spider who has been a
part of this piece since the beginning, which was not planned,
but it has tons of cobwebs and spider webs all
over it, so it gives it a kind of old
thing gone through the ringer kind of feel. It also
has a torn up blanket which was a many pieces.
Many parts of this piece were contributions from Tam, and
(29:26):
Tam was really helpful to me in this And also ironically,
this is a real shopping cart that an unhoused person
actually gave us. It was their shopping cart and we
asked them could we have it, and they said yes.
So it has an advertisement for a real estate company,
which was not planned but it was very serendipitous. And
then below the shopping cart on like the lower level
(29:47):
by the wheels, we have the representation of spilled lemonade
with a picture and some I used wax for this,
and in the beginning it could really smell it because
it's lemon grass wax, and it's kind of coming out
of the picture and tripping onto the wheel and forms
a puddle around the cart a little, some of the
wheels at the front of the cart. And at the
(30:08):
opening this piece also had live lemons, and then like
fresh limons, it was bright and beautiful smelling.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
This piece is called Consumed by Tyler.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
And this is like a collage with lots of text
on top, and then a poem within the text.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
And I can't read it all.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
But I can't read the poem, which says, how much
white do I need to wash out of my system
in order to love myself? How many white proclamations do
I need to evaporate from my mind so I can
feel like I'm enough? Like white out, this white world
washes and wilts over my brown, black brilliance. Like white out,
(30:51):
this white world has bleached my radiance, every inch of
my hue like thick glue. It sits and sticks and
spits on my existence, my mind, my being. Like white out,
the white world exists on every desk, every store, every home,
every school, every book, everywhere. White is there, whether you
(31:13):
can see it, feel it, hear it, smell it. How
many times have I nursed the white wolf in order
to survive? How many tears have I concealed? Laughs, I've
faked words, I've ignored to fit a wasteland for anyone
who doesn't conform.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
How do I wash white out in a white world?
How do I drown out.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
The white noise, erase the white board? How do I
find myself in a world that wasn't made for me?
How do I keep myself from being consumed? How much
white have you consumed? And so just as some examples,
it says like white symphonies, white jazz, white Santa Claus,
white mother Earth, white neighborhood, white therapists, and has all
(31:55):
these kind of different spaces where white supremacy culture is alive,
and well, you know, and it really actually made me
excited that Tyler's piece was between the shopping cart and
what we're about to get into, which is called poverty prison.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
And so this piece is.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
A tableau set up with Legos miniature branded miniatures.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
This is me branded miniatures, palm trees.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
And there's like ultimately three scenes happening at once, so
kind of on the table outside of the poverty prison
physical space, we have some palm trees, and we have
food kind of scattered about, toys, we have books, we
have hot sauce, we have some we have some miniatures
(32:52):
that mostly representing police or like staffing of what would
be this poverty prison.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
We have a.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Mine that looks like an artist that I decided to
be the starving artist of this exhibit. We also have
a shopping cart on its side, kind of playing back
into the previous piece. The shopping cart, as well as
more miniature food inside. And these are branded things like
Twinkies and Hormale, chili and Jello.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And it was intentional for me.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
To actually put which as I found these materials, I
was graciously kind of lended them by a staff member here.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Some of them are very on purpose, like the dumb Dumbs.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
I wanted that to be very close to folks, so
that's like one of the first things that they're seeing,
like the nut thins, Almond Breeze or Almond Joy, whatever
the name of the brand is. This piece is completely
filled with tons of little like things for folks to
find as they look about the piece, it's an I
spy and there's some doughnuts next to cops. And then
(33:56):
when you go kind of look more inside of the
hotel room. So I created this with a shoe box.
I was able to find some recycled carpeting, which I
further mild dude, and it looks terrible. We three D
printed some things like the bed, the chair, the desk,
the sink, and the toilet. The toilet like has wet
(34:16):
wipes on top of it, added some tiles to the
floor and in the poverty prison room. It was very
important for me that I really humanized the people in
the space. So it has some subway kind of soup
and a subway soda. It has markers and a book,
and it has a canvas and a brush and a
(34:37):
completed painting that looks quite beautiful.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
It has a music record.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
It has a San Judas Todeo candle which I actually
custom made myself. And it represents being in places for
example like Project Room Key which was operating in Los
Angeles during the pandemic, or inside Saye, for just any
sort of interim housing program where maybe you're not congregate
space but you are definitely very limited, which if I
(35:03):
hadn't mentioned, the artist in the piece is being physically
attacked and like hit by one of the police.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
And then on the top level of.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
The hotel is a completely different scene where I custom
made a rooftop and has a person, one person has security,
and one robot as security, and then it has six
kind of you could say, elites celebrating on top. And
so they've got a table of food, they've got their
own kind of palm trees, beautiful.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Roses around them.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
And this is one of the parts I tell people
to have fun kind of looking for different little things
like the black man has white hands. The black man
and the women have no cups at this table, even
though all the white men have cups on the table
with the food is sushi and some fast food, but
also a tropical drink.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
And some like dumplings, and and.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
That's really juxtaposed against this more kind of quick fast food,
cheap food that's on the lower level and outside of
the poverty prison, so to speak. And they're on a
gold rooftop platform that I created with some rhinestones. It
was a lot of fun to put those rhinestones and
spell out the word rooftop. And the other thing I
want to point out to you is that it actually
(36:21):
includes a little me. And my partner went out of
their way to find a lego that actually represented me
as a black woman kind of witnessing all of this
and taking notes and.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Reporting on what's going on. And you have made it
to our final piece and it's also me and it's
called the Joy Alter.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
It was very important to me to have the opportunity
to represent joy, happiness, and positivity in this piece as
well as like a spiritual aspect which is kind of
mentioned briefly in the Candle in the Poverty Prison. But
you know, even me personally, I was able to navigate
the things that I went through and recover and survive
(37:04):
because I never let go of my joy. I never
lost sight of the sacredness of joy. And so the
altar is, it's on a table. It has two milk crates,
which I chose as a platform to show you can
really make altar out of anything, can make a sacred
space out of anything. The white cloth on the altar
is actually a pillowcase, and then on top of the
(37:27):
altar it has a mushroom crystal kind of references to
other people's work, which was not at all intentional, but
really shows like the power of the work and how
much what we were all doing really spoke to each other.
So the altar has five affirmation cards. It also has
five coins. There's two that are green, two that's purple,
(37:48):
one that's gold. It has some crystals of various sizes.
It has some stickers that say things like dream big,
End the Stigma, which is a mental health reference sticker,
revolutionist trauma informed kind of representation of like a potion
or a queer kind of.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Concoction, as well.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
As an apple, a large amethyst crystal, as well as
a keychain of free toa collo, some incense sticks which
there's more incense on the table that the platform is
built on, and there's also a white candle.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
And it has flowers coming out at viewers.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
When they're first approaching the piece that are purple, white, yellow,
and pink, and at the opening was fresh flowers. But
again I was able to work artificial flower magic, and
it really represents creating sacred space with anything and knowing
that just to quote one of these cards, your gifts matter,
your story matters, and your dreams matter. And that is
(38:48):
what I was able to really express with this word.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Thank you to Amanda Nicholson for inviting me to in
situ and for so thoughtfully discussing her commitments to reflecting
experiences of the in house in her work. You can
see more work from the Painted Brain on their instagram
at the Painted Brain. Please like and subscribe, and if
you would like to share your story on whedian House,
(39:18):
please reach out to me at widinhal dot com or
email me at whedianhousat gmail dot com. Thank you again
for listening and may we again meet in the light
of understanding. Whedian House is a production of iHeartRadio. It
is written, posted, and created by me Theo Henderson, our
(39:40):
producers Jbie Loftus, Kayley Fager, Katiefischal, and Lyra Smith. Our
editor is Adam Wand and our local art is also
by Katiefischal. Thanks for listening, Yeah,
Previously on Winnian House.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
For far too long, our criminal justice system has failed
our most vulnerable community members. It has disproportionately targeted Black,
Indigenous and LATINX communities, trapping them in a vicious cycle
of poverty, trauma, and incarceration. Seventy four percent of those
arrested in Los Angeles County are Black.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
And Latin X. Our jails are.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Overflown with individuals who are sick, who are poor, and
who are experiencing homelessness and struggling with mental health and
steps since use disorders. This is not justice, This is
a systemic failure.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
South Central's Brightest East LA Committee Compton's Cavalry wants health
workers the heartbeats of the city because we are who
we say we are, and we are all that we
were ever meant to be. And there's nothing that they
could ever say, nothing.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
That they could ever do to stop us.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Because when we start Welcome back to he In House.
I'm your host, Theo Henderson. This week I stepped into
(01:13):
the field in a totally different direction, though the topic
is houselessness. I was invited to observe a form of
artistic expression on houselessness by Amanda Nicholson, one of the
artists and residents at Painted Brain in LA. The exhibit
was called in Fits You, and Amanda's pieces show various
(01:35):
fats as the houselessness. We will be taking you there,
but first on House News. This week's on House News,
it's taking place in Muggie, Washington, d C. In case
you missed it, we are experiencing heat waves around the country.
Our unhoused community needs cold water ice packs to avoid
(01:58):
heat related illnesses. With this in mind, I have been
asking officials the location of the cooling stations. Weeian House
conducted a survey to find out on Twitter on July ninth,
twenty twenty four, I asked, does Mayor Muriel Bowser care
if the unhoused community dying in this heat wave? Ninety
(02:20):
two percent said no, the mayor does not care. An
eight percent said yes. This prompted Mayor Bowser's staff one
day later to respond. They stated they have an interactive
map and information to free accessible transportation to a cooling station.
The shelter has an emergency number which is two O
(02:43):
two three nine nine seven zero ninety three or call
three one one DC Gov. I did an informal outreach
on the story, and only one unhoused person out of
the people that I talked to knew that they had
a cooling station. Any of the unhoused community are not
plugged into an interactive map or have a phone or
(03:05):
it being charged. Los Angeles seemed to be chumping at
the bit and the light of the Supreme Court decision
on Grant's past ruling. The setting is in Little Tokyo.
On Monday, July seven, twenty twenty four, the Los Angeles
Police Department zeroed in on the unhoused community during a
(03:27):
heat wave, weaponizing the American Disability Act against the unhoused
community its nasty work to force evictions from the area.
When forty one eighteen was in effect, the city was
limited in how the city removed the unhoused community. With
the Grand Pass ruling, officials don't have to offer services
(03:49):
or shelter to remove the unhoused. In other parts of
the country, we land in Clackamas County, where commissioners proposed
a new coal to target unhouse RV and campers. These
vehicles are being called Nusance RV and campers under the
proposed code changes. If an RV or camper is being
(04:12):
lived in. It impacts health and safety, and the people
have refused to leave despite prior notice or outreach efforts.
The Sheriff's office could get a warrant and use reasonable
force if necessary to remember whoever lives there and have
their vehicles told. In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed has
(04:34):
vowed more encamp misweeps against the unhoused community in light
of the Supreme Court decision on Grant's past ruling. Reed
and Nimbi's have been opposed to Martin Versus Boys's decision
on treating the unhoused community with empathy. They were part
of the cabal to sue against Martin Versus Boys. Finally,
(04:55):
in Massachusetts, unhoused families are barred from sleeping overnight in
the Logan Airport. Emergency Director Scott Wright dated, families are
arriving in Massachusetts must look elsewhere in the airport or
emergency shelters which are at capacity. Governor Mara Healey announced
new show to capacity for one hundred and forty unhoused
(05:17):
families and phasing out the airport is in the best
interests for the customers and families.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
This is n houseless.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
We'll be right back with Artists in Residence Amanda Nicholson.
Welcome back to Weedian House. I'm THEO Henderson. We take
you now to Painting Brain, where I spoke with Los
Angeles based artists and residence Amanda Nicholson. I was thrilled
(05:49):
to speak with her about her work, her processes, and
how the final product illustrated different aspects of being unhoused.
Like we always say on the show, are not a monolith,
and Amanda's work demonstrates that beautifully. Here's the first part
of our conversation.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
All right, So there were six artists in total that
were part of this residency. Creatives in Residence are exhibits
called in c TU. The text on the floor and
along the walls is by Tyler Bradley. She's a spoken
word artist and a mixed media artist, and she has
another mixed media piece a little later on and in
(06:37):
the exhibit that we'll check out. Moving on, we have
two large prints by Tam tanganin close Friends, super helpful
to me throughout this process, and she has some mixed
media prints as well as a poetry book.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
Please feel free to flip through and check it out.
They're broken piece and discarded scrap interesting.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yeah, and you'll see out of play between the different pieces.
So like broken pieces also end up showing up in
some of my works as well, so you'll see that
continuity with a couple of things throughout the space. By yes,
TAM's zine is on sale for ten bucks.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Okay, a little drop there and you're moving on. This
is my first piece.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
It's called the Hardest Part and it's a use of
physical materials to represent the hardships and difficulties of housing insecurity.
It's a collaborative piece, so it includes myself as well
as you THEO you made it to the piece, harm
reduction advocate Max Flower, holistic health coach Yula Sledge, and
(07:45):
actually Tam, so there's a contribution from Tam in this
piece as well. There's eight materials in total, includes concrete, nails,
broken glass legos to represent a tableau of a sweep
encampment sweep, a narcan box surrounded with flowers, a pothos plant,
(08:10):
and a heart in a spam can some yeah, yeah,
and then some rubber duckies and so we can kind
of go through real quick. So for concrete, it really
is just about representing both the physical situation of being
(08:31):
on the street, of sitting on the sidewalk contemplating your life,
not understanding.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Exactly, and also anywhere you sit.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Even if we think about physical concrete seating in spaces,
you're shoot away from those places. You can't sit, you
can't lay, And so it was important for me to
grab concrete for this. I actually got it off of
a side of a building that has since been demolished
in just the four months that I was in residency
in the South LA near my house. Then we have nails,
(09:03):
and nails serve two purposes and the exhibit they're kind
of anchor pointing straight up, and that is to the
nails represent you know, kind of what holds benches together,
but it also represents anti home as architecture, which again yeah,
which again prevents Burthol from being able to rest. This
(09:23):
is all on the first layer of this piece, which
has three shelves. The third piece is third contribution is
broken glass.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Or shattered glass that I actually found.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
There's a lot of found materials throughout all of the work,
and I happen to find in the area some broken
like shelves in a refrigerator on the street, and so
I was like, yes, exactly what I needed and scooped
it up into a bag and it just it represents
broken dreams, the fragility of life. Even kind of we
(09:54):
think about touching glass, it's this, you know, something sharp,
you know it's hazardous, it's going to make you eat,
and that homelessness is really like bleeding you dry every
day that you're going through it.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Thousand men, a thousand cuts, they pinpricks exact.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
On the second shelf, we have a tableau of a
sweep with legos.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So there's some found legos.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
I found them right outside the center, run over in
traffic and again was like that's it and grabbed them up.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
And at first it was just going to represent foundation, but.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
You'll see in another piece within the exhibit I used
legos again. So as I was kind of assembling that piece,
I was like, I have a sanitation looking kind of worker,
and I have a broom. It would be foolish to
not create this representation of a sweep using legos and
really the intention behind it. As well as miniatures like
(10:50):
miniature possessions, books, baskets, cups, pans, cereal kind of food,
all kind of being swept aside and treated like trash,
and that's to represent that so many people are treated
like trash, literally discarded, their possessions, discarded because they have
a physical or mental disability, and that being swept away
is something that is very painful and traumatic, not just
(11:13):
for the people experiencing it, but anybody who's a witness
to it, And six homeless people die a day here
in La County, and it was really important that I
was able to point that out in this piece. After that,
we have a box of Narcan, which is a collaboration
with harm reduction advocate Max Flower, and it's surrounded by flowers.
(11:34):
At the opening they were fresh, but now we found
some beautiful artificial who longs to take its place. And
it really speaks to the fact that when you're in
a society, you're being dehumanized. You're trying to figure out
how to manage you're dealing with emotional and physical pain.
You need some sort of care, right, you need medical care. Unfortunately,
(11:55):
when you're on housed, especially if you get swept and
you lose your insurance, your idea, it's very difficult to
access health care.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And so that's where.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Street medicine comes into play, and folks have to do
what they have to do to survive. It's not about
demonizing or kind of creating a hierarchy for substances, but
being honest about what conditions caused people to use substances
in the first place. And then on the third shelf,
we have a plant, which this is a collaborative piece
(12:24):
as well, or collaborative contribution from Tam tangan In, and
the plant really represents the sense of home. And Tam
remembers a time in her own life where she had
a house full of plants, and then she also went
through housing and security and became unhoused. And so when
she got a new pothos in her new space, she
(12:44):
called it Traveler and she ended up including an excerpt
from her poem in her book or in her zine Longing.
And then this is from longing for home. Home is
the feeling of freedom to be comfortable in a space,
whether it be a city or a room, that moment
when you relax into it, that is when you are
finally free. Yeah. Yes, it was really important for me
(13:08):
to once I knew that Tam had this kind of
poem going into the z and I was like, that
really speaks to what I'm doing.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
I need you to collabor with me on this.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
The next one we have is you THEO and you're
and it's a it's you know, for the space that's provided.
I've used a pile of socks, but it represents laundry.
And this is to quote you. I'm disabled and was stabbed.
Everything you do requires stomach muscles. Also, Los Angeles has hills.
(13:40):
Try doing laundry under those conditions. And what really excited
me about this particular contribution is in a piece called
the Hardest Part the Softest Thing. It sucks, you know
what I mean, Something so simple that easily taken for
(14:01):
granted becomes such a hard ship.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
And then the final contribution is from my mom, who's
a holistic health car and she she spoke to the
rubber duckies and what it says, this is a quote
from her. Basic amenities are not a luxury, a place
to bathe do laundry, a mailbox and storage for one's property.
(14:25):
It goes without saying, safe housing and food, a hot
bath where you can feel the water rising.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Up around your shoulders.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
And so we've got two rubber duckies here to kind
of represent that luxury of hygiene, particularly in a bath
that really isn't a luxury.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
People took baths long before they took showers. In fact,
all it bore.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So I want to take a quick moment to talk
about you are the activist of artists and residents.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Tell us a little bit about that. What was that
like and how did you get to be the artistan.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
With just took a chance on applying because I saw
it in an Instagram ad and it it ended up
really working out in my favor. And it's exciting to
use my experience and what I've learned in my not
just my own lived experience, but in working mutual aid
(15:19):
with other people. Really the impact of homelessness in a
way that is not have happening in conversations. We're not
talking about impact through the lens of humanity, and that's
that really eats at me. So it was really cool
to have this opportunity to make some pieces, pull materials together,
(15:39):
be in spaces and be inspired by others. And there's
so many great artists in the residency, so that's why
I'm happy to talk about all their works too, because
we really contributed to each other's like inspiration and growth
through this.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
So can you tell us a little bit about Painted Brain. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
So Painted Brain is a community center in mid c
although they may be moving kind of soon, and they
offer just open studio space to the community three days a.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Week so that they can make art.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
There's workshops happening every day, but you're not required to participate,
and they offer residencies to kind of expand on having
an impact in the arts community.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Wow, that's impressive. How long is the activist artists and residence?
Speaker 4 (16:26):
So the residency was about four months in total, and
it finished on May third, that's when we had our
opening and we'll be wrapping up next week. So our
exhibition will be or is open currently and has been
will be open in total about a month.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Because of this is so impactful and it shouldn't die all.
Would you create a moving kind of artists kind of thing,
more kind of mobile kind of.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Thing, particularly for this piece. The hardest part.
Speaker 4 (16:54):
What I envisioned for it in the beginning was a
public art installation. And I'm very inspired by Alison Tsar
because she's done public art both in New York or
I'm from and here in LA and I've really seen
the impact of her public art, particularly in black and
brown neighborhoods. And I really want to in the end
(17:14):
see the hardest part on the street. No one has
to have a special invitation. Doesn't matter what time of
day it is. You can be reminded of the hardships
of homelessness, not in a kind of easy to cast
a sideway when we're witnessing actual human beings, but in
a way that makes you ponder the comforts or lack
of comfort in your own life. Oh well said, we
(17:37):
can kind of move into the next space.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And then peace. Okay, okay, let's see real quick before
we leave this room.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
I just want to highlight that we have eleven paintings
on the wall, and thereby tr Son and they are
a rapper as well and a musician, and they created
at the opening this wearable machine in addition to these
beautiful paintings, and I want to draw attention to the
mushrooms in one of the pieces. And I remember from
(18:03):
TR's beautiful performance at the opening that each piece represents
a different light in the light spectrum, so you know, gamma,
UV X ray and things like that.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Impressive. All right, we can leave the way. Yes, he's
in the third room, and we'll actually go this way
around the space and then we'll come back to this sign.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:24):
So first we have three paintings and a triptych and
that's by tays Net and Teya is an environmental focused artist.
It was very important for her to reflect the impact
of microplastics or connection to the earth in her pieces.
She has another piece that we'll reference and we'll check
(18:44):
out just a little bit later. And so each piece
has beautiful paintings as well as poetry, and it's speaking
about everything from toxic rain, to microplastics to the connection
with the earth. So it really is eye opening when
you step into the room. One is red, one is blue,
and then one is green, and they're each kind of showing.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Their own little vignette or concept.
Speaker 4 (19:12):
So after that we have this is Tonka Land by
Ezekiel Goodwin. And of all the artists, Ezekiel set forth
this intention to really represent each person in the residency
because he had the opportunity to meet everyone in both
quick cohorts, so he really wanted to reflect that in
(19:32):
his piece.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
And so we have this beautiful mural of a woman.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
She has indigenous directions like in coloring as her jewelry,
and she's holding a book.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
And her shirt is blue.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
She's got this beautiful kind of like orange and shades
of orange kind of sunset or moon behind her, expends
on what you kind of receive it as as well
as these beautiful white flowers around her.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
And she's holding a book.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
And the book that she's holding in the metaphorical represents Tyler,
who we spoke about earlier, and also represents this woman
or this image, this person learning about Tonga Land, learning
about her own indigenous connection to the land and her people.
And so her hands are actually cosmic, which Ezekiel had
(20:22):
shared with some folks, was partially inspired by me and
was really spoke to this idea of getting in alignment
with the universe, having a spiritual connection, and spirituality will
actually show up more in this room as we move
through the space. And then she also has this kind
of like cosmic starry imagery also coming from her scout
(20:44):
to represent the consciousness really integrating into her own line. Yeah,
as she's reading, and so around the mural it has
a shelf with some books that say this is Tonga Land.
I can actually tell you what the four books are.
The first book is The Serpent and the Rainbow by
Wade Davis.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
The second is nineteen eighty.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Four by George Orwell, which work on a living in
the third is The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King,
and the fourth is The Wretched of the Earth by
France Fannin, which is actually on my reading list.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
For the year.
Speaker 4 (21:23):
And then it also has plants around it. At the opening,
Ezekiel had indigenous followers as well as seeds of indigenous
plants for folks to take home.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
So I actually have some of Ezekiel's peace at my house.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
And there's also a mushroom, which I pointed that out
in TR's piece, and you'll continue to what we talk
about mushrooms more so, moving on to this wall, the
last piece. This is also by Teya who did the triptych,
and this is actually a mysolium network and it represents
the mushroom network underground and the root system of trees and
how that's actually how trees are able to communicate. And
(21:57):
this was an interactive piece where you could actually attach
your own kind of message and share what grounds you,
what person places her thing grounds you or makes you
feel love. It's like a black or darker background with
beautiful light gray my ciliums, wiggles and squiggles and dots
all throughout.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
When we come back, Amanda and I continue this discussion.
Welcome back to Weedian House where I'm in the field
at Painted Brain in LA. Thank you for continuing our
artistic exploration and the mind of artists and residence Amanda Nicholson.
(22:40):
Here's the rest of our talk as she guided me
through the exhibit and her work.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
All right, we're going to get into one of my pieces.
This is called Rules of Policies and Procedures, and.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
This is printed on metal.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I had the opportunity to make this medal, so I'm
very excited and I'm happy to read it to y'all.
So the first says mission and in quotes Policies and Procedures. One,
we are saving you from the outside world. You're welcome. Two,
we profit from your crisis. Please remain in crisis.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Three.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Good people don't go to poverty prison. You must be
lazy or use drugs. Four people who use drugs deserve
the absolute worst.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
And we are proud to give it to them.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Five Celebrities donate to the nonprofit Industrial Complex and for
Caring about you bums.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
They deserve lower taxes. Six.
Speaker 4 (23:36):
If a security guard is harassing you, find a new
place to live. That's how you solve that.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Number.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Seven temporary overnight rain shelter schedule. Sign up four pm, confirm,
check in, seven pm, curfew, nine pm, exit four am
back into the rain.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
You are escaping.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
And that is a reference to the policy at Father
Joe's in San Diego, where they really do put people
back out in the rate do ith, Yeah, Father Joes
put me through the ringer. Eight we have no services
for people with disabilities. Our security costs are too high.
Nine we have no hot water or toilet paper. Our
(24:18):
security costs are too high. Ten we seek to break
your spirit so that you may be mentally trapped here, period, forever.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Period. That's the first sign.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
The second reads grand in quotes hotel rules number one.
Please remove your humanity and place it in the bin
to the left. You no longer need it here. Two
are the part You are a participant of a program
in italics. Therefore, you are our property. We will throw
you out and away as we see fit, often in
(24:49):
violation of the United Nations Human Right to adequate housing
and the guidelines for the implementation of the right to
adequate housing. Three you will eat, sleep, and wake as
we see fit. Failure to follow check ins and curfews
will lead to in parentheses, homelessness.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Four.
Speaker 4 (25:08):
We will check you and check on you as we
see fit. You left your privacy and dignity in the
bin at the door. Failure to allow us to violate
you will lead to in parentheses homelessness.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
Five.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
We wipe our asses with your grievances. No one cares
about the bad things that happen to you. Feel free
to keep filing them. Six you will have a false
due process. If we kick you out, you can appeal,
but exits from the program will go through bureaucracy to
be overturned. Seven we will purposely mistreat you. You know
(25:42):
you were a bum with no life, bleeding the system
dry because you're too lazy to work when you arrived.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Eight. People like you need people like us. Nine.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Staff may very well be living in the next program,
but here they are your overseer.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
And ten.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Smoke in the areas with the no smoking signs doesn't
make sense. Cognitive dissonance is your life. Your life doesn't
make sense. And for this piece, I really wanted to
use a lot of overt sarcasm, but also a lived experience,
not just for myself but for other people of what
they've been exposed to, whether they've dealt with congregate shelters,
(26:20):
bridge homes, interim housing programs, savior kind of complex programs,
recovery programs. No matter what the options are when it
comes to housing, you are almost always guaranteed that you
will be limited in your ability.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
To live as a free adult.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
And we'll see that show up again in another piece
in a little bit after that. We have when life
gives you lemons. This is an installation piece, So it's
a shopping cart, and that shopping cart includes vividly first
see a lot of lemons in different bags, but when
you start to look more closely at the piece, you
(27:01):
realize that there's also other things.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Kind of going on.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
So, yeah, there's two suitcases. There's a suitcase, a luggage,
a book bag, and a purse. And in addition to
lemons being inside of them, there's a three day notice
to pay rent or move out. The plaintiff is landhorders
are us, and the defendants are the disabled, the poor,
and the underpaid. And so you see that eviction notice
(27:30):
sticking out, but you also see sprinkles of humanity. And
it was really important for me in this piece to
show that, you know, it's easy to see someone pushing
a shopping cart and write off what may be inside,
or see someone on the sidewalk, and.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
This is your Yes, this is also me. This is
also me.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
And so inside of the suitcases you see kind of
socks coming out, but inside of the shopping cart overall
you see like a rose, a.
Speaker 3 (27:59):
Rain poncho, a razor, some toothpasted.
Speaker 4 (28:04):
And some body wash kind of sticking out of different
pieces of the one of the suitcases in the book
bag where the purse is kind of nestled inside of
and we can get closer a bit, I can see
what's on the other side. It's important for me to
have personal materials like a toothbrush, a headband. Even there's
an old shoe, a shoe from my cut off the
(28:27):
list collection and attached to the bottom of the shoe,
it has a quote from C. S. Lewis that says,
you can't go back and change the beginning, but you
can start where you are.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
And change the end.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
On one of the suitcases, it says inside all of
us is a wild thing. Inside the other side of
the book bag it says, some days you have to
create your own sunshine. And on the other side of
the book bag is a sticker which has like a
graphic novel style woman crying as well as a cannabis nugget.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
And it says, hello, hot box, I need the dank.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
We also have a living spider who has been a
part of this piece since the beginning, which was not planned,
but it has tons of cobwebs and spider webs all
over it, so it gives it a kind of old
thing gone through the ringer kind of feel. It also
has a torn up blanket which was a many pieces.
Many parts of this piece were contributions from Tam, and
(29:26):
Tam was really helpful to me in this And also ironically,
this is a real shopping cart that an unhoused person
actually gave us. It was their shopping cart and we
asked them could we have it, and they said yes.
So it has an advertisement for a real estate company,
which was not planned but it was very serendipitous. And
then below the shopping cart on like the lower level
(29:47):
by the wheels, we have the representation of spilled lemonade
with a picture and some I used wax for this,
and in the beginning it could really smell it because
it's lemon grass wax, and it's kind of coming out
of the picture and tripping onto the wheel and forms
a puddle around the cart a little, some of the
wheels at the front of the cart. And at the
(30:08):
opening this piece also had live lemons, and then like
fresh limons, it was bright and beautiful smelling.
Speaker 3 (30:15):
This piece is called Consumed by Tyler.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
And this is like a collage with lots of text
on top, and then a poem within the text.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
And I can't read it all.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
But I can't read the poem, which says, how much
white do I need to wash out of my system
in order to love myself? How many white proclamations do
I need to evaporate from my mind so I can
feel like I'm enough? Like white out, this white world
washes and wilts over my brown, black brilliance. Like white out,
(30:51):
this white world has bleached my radiance, every inch of
my hue like thick glue. It sits and sticks and
spits on my existence, my mind, my being. Like white out,
the white world exists on every desk, every store, every home,
every school, every book, everywhere. White is there, whether you
(31:13):
can see it, feel it, hear it, smell it. How
many times have I nursed the white wolf in order
to survive? How many tears have I concealed? Laughs, I've
faked words, I've ignored to fit a wasteland for anyone
who doesn't conform.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
How do I wash white out in a white world?
How do I drown out.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
The white noise, erase the white board? How do I
find myself in a world that wasn't made for me?
How do I keep myself from being consumed? How much
white have you consumed? And so just as some examples,
it says like white symphonies, white jazz, white Santa Claus,
white mother Earth, white neighborhood, white therapists, and has all
(31:55):
these kind of different spaces where white supremacy culture is alive,
and well, you know, and it really actually made me
excited that Tyler's piece was between the shopping cart and
what we're about to get into, which is called poverty prison.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
And so this piece is.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
A tableau set up with Legos miniature branded miniatures.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
This is me branded miniatures, palm trees.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
And there's like ultimately three scenes happening at once, so
kind of on the table outside of the poverty prison
physical space, we have some palm trees, and we have
food kind of scattered about, toys, we have books, we
have hot sauce, we have some we have some miniatures
(32:52):
that mostly representing police or like staffing of what would
be this poverty prison.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
We have a.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Mine that looks like an artist that I decided to
be the starving artist of this exhibit. We also have
a shopping cart on its side, kind of playing back
into the previous piece. The shopping cart, as well as
more miniature food inside. And these are branded things like
Twinkies and Hormale, chili and Jello.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
And it was intentional for me.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
To actually put which as I found these materials, I
was graciously kind of lended them by a staff member here.
Speaker 3 (33:29):
Some of them are very on purpose, like the dumb Dumbs.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
I wanted that to be very close to folks, so
that's like one of the first things that they're seeing,
like the nut thins, Almond Breeze or Almond Joy, whatever
the name of the brand is. This piece is completely
filled with tons of little like things for folks to
find as they look about the piece, it's an I
spy and there's some doughnuts next to cops. And then
(33:56):
when you go kind of look more inside of the
hotel room. So I created this with a shoe box.
I was able to find some recycled carpeting, which I
further mild dude, and it looks terrible. We three D
printed some things like the bed, the chair, the desk,
the sink, and the toilet. The toilet like has wet
(34:16):
wipes on top of it, added some tiles to the
floor and in the poverty prison room. It was very
important for me that I really humanized the people in
the space. So it has some subway kind of soup
and a subway soda. It has markers and a book,
and it has a canvas and a brush and a
(34:37):
completed painting that looks quite beautiful.
Speaker 3 (34:39):
It has a music record.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
It has a San Judas Todeo candle which I actually
custom made myself. And it represents being in places for
example like Project Room Key which was operating in Los
Angeles during the pandemic, or inside Saye, for just any
sort of interim housing program where maybe you're not congregate
space but you are definitely very limited, which if I
(35:03):
hadn't mentioned, the artist in the piece is being physically
attacked and like hit by one of the police.
Speaker 3 (35:12):
And then on the top level of.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
The hotel is a completely different scene where I custom
made a rooftop and has a person, one person has security,
and one robot as security, and then it has six
kind of you could say, elites celebrating on top. And
so they've got a table of food, they've got their
own kind of palm trees, beautiful.
Speaker 3 (35:36):
Roses around them.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
And this is one of the parts I tell people
to have fun kind of looking for different little things
like the black man has white hands. The black man
and the women have no cups at this table, even
though all the white men have cups on the table
with the food is sushi and some fast food, but
also a tropical drink.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
And some like dumplings, and and.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
That's really juxtaposed against this more kind of quick fast food,
cheap food that's on the lower level and outside of
the poverty prison, so to speak. And they're on a
gold rooftop platform that I created with some rhinestones. It
was a lot of fun to put those rhinestones and
spell out the word rooftop. And the other thing I
want to point out to you is that it actually
(36:21):
includes a little me. And my partner went out of
their way to find a lego that actually represented me
as a black woman kind of witnessing all of this
and taking notes and.
Speaker 3 (36:32):
Reporting on what's going on. And you have made it
to our final piece and it's also me and it's
called the Joy Alter.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
It was very important to me to have the opportunity
to represent joy, happiness, and positivity in this piece as
well as like a spiritual aspect which is kind of
mentioned briefly in the Candle in the Poverty Prison. But
you know, even me personally, I was able to navigate
the things that I went through and recover and survive
(37:04):
because I never let go of my joy. I never
lost sight of the sacredness of joy. And so the
altar is, it's on a table. It has two milk crates,
which I chose as a platform to show you can
really make altar out of anything, can make a sacred
space out of anything. The white cloth on the altar
is actually a pillowcase, and then on top of the
(37:27):
altar it has a mushroom crystal kind of references to
other people's work, which was not at all intentional, but
really shows like the power of the work and how
much what we were all doing really spoke to each other.
So the altar has five affirmation cards. It also has
five coins. There's two that are green, two that's purple,
(37:48):
one that's gold. It has some crystals of various sizes.
It has some stickers that say things like dream big,
End the Stigma, which is a mental health reference sticker,
revolutionist trauma informed kind of representation of like a potion
or a queer kind of.
Speaker 3 (38:07):
Concoction, as well.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
As an apple, a large amethyst crystal, as well as
a keychain of free toa collo, some incense sticks which
there's more incense on the table that the platform is
built on, and there's also a white candle.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
And it has flowers coming out at viewers.
Speaker 4 (38:24):
When they're first approaching the piece that are purple, white, yellow,
and pink, and at the opening was fresh flowers. But
again I was able to work artificial flower magic, and
it really represents creating sacred space with anything and knowing
that just to quote one of these cards, your gifts matter,
your story matters, and your dreams matter. And that is
(38:48):
what I was able to really express with this word.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
Thank you to Amanda Nicholson for inviting me to in
situ and for so thoughtfully discussing her commitments to reflecting
experiences of the in house in her work. You can
see more work from the Painted Brain on their instagram
at the Painted Brain. Please like and subscribe, and if
you would like to share your story on whedian House,
(39:18):
please reach out to me at widinhal dot com or
email me at whedianhousat gmail dot com. Thank you again
for listening and may we again meet in the light
of understanding. Whedian House is a production of iHeartRadio. It
is written, posted, and created by me Theo Henderson, our
(39:40):
producers Jbie Loftus, Kayley Fager, Katiefischal, and Lyra Smith. Our
editor is Adam Wand and our local art is also
by Katiefischal. Thanks for listening, Yeah,
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.