Artist's Statement

The Nave Gallery (Somerville, MA), in partnership with the Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church  (CHPC) have collaborated for our annual  social justice art show,   “Uprooted / Transplanted: Stories of Displacement”.  This exhibition will share images and stories of displacement - the forced movement of people from their homes due to conflict, violence, economics, discrimination or natural disaster.  Somerville and the Greater Boston area are home to many such displaced persons, forced to relocate far from home into a totally different environment.  We will present art that portrays the human experience of displacement and resettlement.  

The Uprooted/Transplanted exhibition will join art exhibited elsewhere in the building tied to the theme of displacement including selections of “Art in Exile”, a collection of paintings from 10 artists in refugee camps in Jordan housed in the  CHPC Sanctuary as well as “Faces of Syrian Refugees”, a collection of triptych life-sized portraits with interviews with relocated Syrian refugees around the world by Boston photographer Michael S Cohen, in collaboration with radio journalist Amy Bracken and translator Dana Janbek.  Both collections are evocative of displacement, survival and hope.