From March 29 through May 20 Grants Pass Art Museum will host the Betty LaDuke Art Show Fire, Fury, and Resistance: Totem Witnesses and Turtle Wisdom.
We are about to be treated to an enormous show featuring the work of our dear friend Betty Betty LaDuke at the Grants Pass Museum of Art. Amazingly, the thirty-eight pieces largely represent what she did while in virtual isolation during the past two years of COVID shutdown.
“Fire, Fury and Resilience” reflects her sensitivity to the s social issues of our times, the Almeda Fire, Immigration issues, social distancing during COVID and long-standing issues of social justice are all brilliantly reflected in her textured three-dimensional pieces using strident purples and turquoise, for instance, in just the right places to create her own version of totems that are visually tribal and compelling.
Betty’s work includes some pieces from a new series of twelve turtles that she was inspired to create after a recent trip to see her daughter, Winona LaDuke, in Minnesota. She described the way enormous turtles kept appearing along the highway they were driving on. In order not to hurt or scare the turtles, Winona would get out and put a stick in front of them. They would snap at the stick and grip it, not letting go. This made it possible for Winona to drag the turtles off the road as they appeared. Turtles have been iconic images for Betty over years the years as they appear in folk cultures in Africa, South America, Native American motifs over generations.
Betty says that she is enjoying creating the turtle totems because they are a relief from all the more intense expressions of what she has felt through the last two years. She assures us that more turtles are yet to come, but so far each enormous turtle medallion provides a colorful, circular and magical design. We look forward to seeing Betty’s still-burgeoning artistry, which is a marvel and a gift and puts the Rogue Valley on the map nationally and internationally.
