The Miracle of Forgiveness Virtual Art Gala

Exhibits are listed in alphabetical order by artist's first name

The Miracle of Finding Me | Angela Clements

This piece was created to represent all of the people who were there to help me accept myself when I felt I was drowning and weighed down by standards and expectations imposed on me by my family and church. It's a show of acceptance and healing that in turn allowed me to reach out to those around me and show them they too can be accepted as they are, that none of us are built wrong.

Who Are You Serving? | Annika Dean and Austin Dean Foote

My youth leaders in Orem in the late 80’s compared watching a movie with swear words to drinking a milkshake with flies mixed in. This metaphor had an impact on me. It was a serious struggle to find entertainment that didn’t have a “fly” or two. Decades later, my friend’s convert daughter attended mutual in Florida. The mutual group was advised by a stake leader that: “It is ok to wave hello in the halls to an LGBTQ person, but you shouldn’t be friends with them.” I saw a parallel: the LGBTQ community at school (because they could not exist at church) were like flies in a milkshake. Wave (don’t swat) but don’t invite them into your “Mormon Milkshake” world. I recently discovered RuPaul had a beautiful rainbow fly named in his honor by Australian scientist, Bryan Lessard in 2021. The flies in this exhibit are flying away from a milkshake containing harmful messages.

Infants on Thrones | Brooke Madsen

This work explores perceptions of power. I wanted to make a giant powerful naked woman as an affront to the Judeo-Christian male gaze. For this piece, I really wanted to play with scale which in this context signals the perception of value and identity. Three tiny priesthood holders who stand below the woman, wear the ceremonial green leaf apron that is worn during Mormon temple ordinances. In the Mormon temple ceremony this apron symbolizes Adam and Eve covering their nakedness after Lucifer has made them aware of it. I have always been fascinated that we take instruction from Satan inside of the temple. Tiny fragile sticks as antlers represent assumed and false power. The men are built and bent in ways to humanize them, gesturing perhaps that in their roles, they might have different attitudes and levels of humanity and pride personally. They are positioned to have her in their periphery. They are starting to notice her power. This piece is an exploration of the process of living and awakening from growing up in Mormon indoctrination. Creating this helped to process my experience of marrying young and completely submitting to patriarchal ideals. I wanted the face to show depth and have a hollowed out, hungry feeling to give the sense of the deprivation of body and soul that we experience in conforming the expectations of Mormon living. One eye is closed, and the other is being sewn shut to acknowledge tension and pressure not to see a new perspective. The mask was made without a mouth to punctuate the hush and voicelessness one might experience when stirs of questions and unrest start to arise. Her antlers pierce old broken promises and shed remaining bits of guilt and shame the fairytale gave. There are nods to playful surrealism and feminine power which is often used in my work. The scale and depth here create a sense of power which I hope that the viewer can connect to the quiet strength of their own journey.
VIEW THIS EXHIBIT