The WOMAN’S NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB presents MARIA-LANA QUEEN: KINDRED SPIRITS in the Ballroom Gallery of the WOMAN’S NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB, DECEMBER 4, 2014 – FEBRUARY 24, 2015 OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 6-8pm “KINDRED SPIRITS” COLLECTION - The “Kindred Spirits” collection continues Maria-Lana Queen’s ongoing exploration of the themes: connection and loss, faith and spirituality, affinity and kinship. Maria-Lana uses several devices as metaphors: ladders to show that there is a way out from whatever difficulties we are facing; small stitch-like marks she calls “tracks” to remind us that with the choices we make lay the path to our happiness or un-happiness; cages to convey the feeling of powerlessness that can keep us imprisoned in the past; crosses to affirm the importance of faith in her life; oddly placed alphabets to draw the viewer into a search for meaning in the work; and DNA-like images to represent heredity. In the paintings “Connections”, Maria-Lana uses her DNA-like images to represent our shared humanity that makes us more similar than dissimilar; and, to express her curiosity about her known and unknown genetic heritage. For these paintings Maria-Lana uses the color green to symbolize the renewal that we often experience with new connections. In the painting “Kindred Spirits” Maria-Lana reflects on special connections in a diptych to symbolize the bonding of two separate souls. She uses a bright red-orange color to express the liberation and joie de vivre that comes with sharing an affinity of the mind and temperament. In the paintings Blue for You, Maria-Lana uses several shades of blue to recreate that hard to grasp fragility and wistful mood of having the blues. In the paintings “Shield”, Maria-Lana is not symbolizing a physical “Shield” but rather a spiritual one. She has chosen the color yellow for the paintings because like her faith it is uplifting, highly visible and illuminating. MARIA-LANA QUEEN a Washingtonian, is employed as a Liaison for Federal Inter-Agency Youth Initiatives at the United States, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A former fashion model, she never considered painting until a devastating personal loss started her artistic journey. She discovered that art allowed her to express her feelings in her own coded language. She used the power of color to express emotions and her colorful abstract paintings serve as a personal visual diary of her experiences. Her artwork has been shown in various venues, including: solo exhibits at Market Five Gallery, District Fine Arts Gallery, Parish Art Gallery, the prominent, Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art, and, through this collection, has been exhibited at the University of Marylands David C. Driskell Center, the Jacksonville Florida Museum of Contemporary Art, Georgia Museum of Art (on permanent display), and numerous other museums. Maria-Lanas work is included in the collections of prominent art collectors; and, was the subject of a feature article in the Washington Post dated November 30, 2012. CONTACT: Nuzhat Sultan, Chair of the Visual Arts and Museum Affairs Committee, WNDC artswndc@gmail 202-320-1301 Ariana Anzola, Arts Assistant, WNDC arianzola@gmail 202-232-7363 ext. 3104 The WOMAN’S NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CLUB is located at 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The exhibition runs from DECEMBER 4, 2014 – FEBRUARY 24, 2015. The public is invited to the opening reception on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 6- 8pm. The Woman’s National Democratic Club is open Monday through Friday from 9am -5pm. Please call ahead.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 17:48:08 +0000