Sunday night at 7:30 pm, classmate Kelsey Herman accompanied me to Linnea Goold's opening
for her junior exhibition project presentation at Whitworth University’s Lied
Center for the Arts. Her presentation titled REND: the City of Refuge was a passionate and moving display and
commentary of her own very personal experiences. The exhibit begins with the
definition of the word rend: to
become torn or split, to remove from place by violence, to cause great
emotional pain to (a person or their heart). Next, there is a short essay about
the inspiration for Linnea’s work and an explanation of why she did what she
did. At this point, I do not feel that her story is mine to tell; however, I
will say that her exhibition is extremely moving and emotional. I overheard one
professor describe the work as “powerful.” I think it was so brave of Linnea to
share her story with the world. The focus of her work is based on very sad and
disturbing journal entries that she made starting from age twelve up to her
current age of twenty-two. Linnea was able to make this ten year recording of
the darker elements of her childhood experiences capture the heart and mind of
the viewer, while also evoking a sense of comfort and hope. When I spoke with
her directly, I asked what it is that she ultimately wants the viewer to get
from this exhibit. Her response was that she hopes people can understand and
learn to be “okay with being uncomfortable.” The exhibit was made up of
photographs accompanied by quotes from her childhood journal. There is also an
interactive element, which she calls “The City of Refuge”, a title inspired
from a story from the Bible. The piece is built as a sort of nest-like creation,
made out of tumbleweeds, with a brightly lit light bulb placed in the center of
the nest. People are encouraged to write about their struggles or hopes or
anything on their mind and place it into the City of Refuge. Linnea’s exhibition is very moving and beautiful
and sad but above all, it evokes a sense of hope for inner peace for any
struggling person. It is a reminder that it is “okay to be uncomfortable.”
City of Refuge (an interactive installation)
Ahhh I LOVE this exhibit and am glad I got to go to the opening with you. What really amazed me about her work is the focus she did on the emotion of anger. She displayed it in a unique way- rather calm instead of raging like most angry artworks. Her work is clear evidence to the therapy art provides.
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