Faces beyond the garden

The man behind the mask (or in this case the garden)
Isaiah Hagar (http://www.isaiahzagar.org/about.html)

Isaiah was 19 yrs old when he was introduced to the folk art environment of Clarence Schmidt, Woodstock, NY USA. In 1960 there was an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, NY. The exhibition included artists such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Curt Schwitters, Antonio Gaudi,Clarence Schmit, Simon Rodia and Joseph Ferdinand Cheval that gave him a trained artist to include their concepts as manifestations of fine art. He began what he called a life's work in the city of Philadelphia PA "into a labyrinthine mosaic museum that incorporates all his knowledge and skill".



My topic for the next project is based on the garden in Philadelphia. I thought the statues were very expressive. It captures emotion, and the statues are images of children within a garden in the middle of the city. The faces caught my attention due to the facial features and expressions. Some of them have such a sad look on their face. I wonder if they purposely sculpted them that way. Inside a gleeful garden among the flowers and the children playing lies a kind of nostalgia. I might be reading to far from the picture or perhaps making up a new one. The subtle gloom and hues of green surrounding them in a way that holds them almost captive. I enjoyed choosing the statues for the book project simply because they have such detailed expression. In the beginning I wanted to choose Architecture as my subject but the sensitivity of the garden changed my mind. I thought it expressed my work with stronger feeling. I like choosing landscape as subjects rather than people only because some people don't like to be photographed. I think who look at the faces can relate at some point in time to them. We all felt some type of melancholy towards a playground or place you visit left in your imagination. You might have moved from place to place or it no longer exist only in your memories. I felt a sort of mist when I saw the garden and my nephew played and stumbled to the ground loving every minute of it. I wish I could bring those moments back. I think that's why I related to the statues and the garden. I miss those playful moments stuck in time and in my mind but I can still remember