Second Street Gallery - FOSTER PAINTINGS
NEW EXHIBITION
Foster Paintings at Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville Virginia
APRIL 5 - MAY 24, 2024
Second Street Gallery is pleased to present Foster Paintings, a solo exhibition of works by artist Jac Lahav, to be held in the Main Gallery from April 5 - May 24, 2024. The exhibition will open to the public on First Friday, April 5 from 5:30-7:30PM, where the artist will be on hand to meet and chat with visitors.
This exhibition is generously sponsored by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Foster Paintings showcases an installation of immersive vining sculptures and abstract painting that intertwine the themes of fostering children and the nurturing power of plants. Each work references a phone call Lahav’s family received for a foster placement, whether they could help or not. The paintings represent points of contact and beautiful moments in time during periods of trauma.
Exhibition Statement (courtesy of the artist)
In 2020, amidst the pandemic, my partner and I became licensed foster parents. This coincided with a shift in my artistic journey as I began to transition away from portraiture towards abstraction. In 2021 I began my "Foster Paintings" series, which chronicles my experiences in foster parenting. There are currently 46 paintings in this series, each measuring a standard 24” x 32”, and each symbolizes a unique phone call we received for a potential foster placement.
Not all these placements were accepted, but each phone call reflected a fork in the road, both for my life and that of the foster child. Many of the calls were for permanent placement infants, and some were for temporary emergency placements. To date, we have hosted 16 emergency placements and have one semi-permanent placement for a little over two years.
Each of the paintings in this visual diary is created using acrylic and flashe paint on a printed velvet surface, giving them a distinctive texture and depth. The use of flashe paint adds a vibrant, matte finish that contrasts beautifully with the lush background of the velvet, bringing each abstract form to life, reflecting them as seeds, embryos, or gems.
This series is more than just an artistic endeavor; it's a personal diary, a collection of moments forgotten in the hustle of daily life. Each abstract composition is a reminder of the complex and unpredictable journey we've embarked on, encapsulating the delicate balance of caring deeply and the necessity of letting go. The "Foster Paintings" represent the passage of time, as a caregiver and an artist, reflecting the profound love for children who have come into our lives, if only for a brief time.
This work responds to the concept of creating a “utopian” parental society, highlighting how fostering, as a specific form of parenting, challenges traditional views of family structures. Parenting, in its essence, is a kaleidoscope of diverse experiences, a multiverse of nurturing children. Fostering, while distinctly different from most parent experiences, opens avenues for profound community engagement and prompts a reevaluation of the core tenets of parenthood.
An observation I share with other parents that encapsulates this complexity revolves around the financial strain of raising children. Interestingly, in our situation of fostering a semi-permanent two-year-old, the government subsidizes daycare costs. This is a huge win! I tell my fellow parents, all you have to do to get free daycare is live with the unsettling awareness that the child can be taken away at any moment.
Through my artwork, I engage in a dual process of reflection and advocacy. On one hand, it serves as a meditation on the hardships and stress inherent in the fostering process. On the other, it acts as a platform for dialogue about fostering's role in creating a true sense of community and the multifaceted nature of parenthood. My exhibitions are not just displays of art; they are opportunities to spark conversation and deepen understanding about these crucial and complex aspects of our social fabric.