If Every Mother Were a Saint, Heaven Would Be Full By Now, Part 1.2019 Single-channel HD video and sound, 25:46 min
Screening followed by a conversation with Ellie Lee, Executive Director of Equitable Vitrines and Maria Maea, Multidisciplinary artist and performer, and veronique d’entremont
If Every Mother Were a Saint, Heaven Would Be Full By Now, Part 1. Depending upon who you ask, veronique d'entremont comes from a line of women who are either blessed with spiritual gifts, or cursed by bi-polar disorder. To understand this family legacy, d’entremont looks to a multitude of sources, including developmental psychology, Christian Mysticism and Sicilian folk magic. Their film explores personal content with a research-based approach that honors the full breadth of their subjects’ humanity. Through personal archival video footage, sound recordings and narration, their video crafts a story that proposes a transformation of dominant narratives around suicide and mental illness.
veronique d’entremont is a multi-disciplinary artist who examines the social and institutional spaces we inhabit, how they shape us and how we can ultimately transform them. Through reciprocal studio, pedagogical and spiritual practices, they investigate art as a medium for building empathy, healing from inter-generational trauma and challenging notions of otherness. Narrative video and writing offer a framework to understand the devotional sculpture and world-building philosophy that encompasses d’entremont’s larger project. They have been a guest lecturer at UCLA, CalArts and at California Rehabilitation Center, a prison in Norco, CA. d’entremont’s work has received grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and The California Arts Council. Their solo exhibitions include Commonwealth and Council (2013), The Boehm Gallery (2016) and Her Body Became an Antenna, Transmitting The Message of God, a collaboration with Danny Mekonnen at Nothing Special (2020).
Ellie Lee is the Executive Director of Equitable Vitrines, an arts organization committed to examining theoretical and discursive approaches to contemporary art with the intention of determining their veracity and usefulness. Lee is on the steering committee and board of directors of GYOPO and is the secretary of the Korea Arts Foundation of America. Lee holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Southern California.
Maria Maea is a multidisciplinary artist working in production, installation, and performance. Through film, sculpture, and movement she deepens her connection to source. Over the last decade, Maea has developed a practice through community based collaborations and
mentorships. These relationships give form to her work as she centers her focus on the possibilities of self reflection as a collective act.
www.artveronique.com