IA Mail Art Project 2023

Organized in partnership with College Unbound, AS220, the City of Providence, and a diverse local Steering Committee, the 2023 IA National Gathering, “Radical Reckoning: Invoking the Elements for Collective Change,” was held in-person in Providence, Rhode Island on October 20-22, 2023. The Mail Art Project asked participants to respond to the Gathering theme with the prompts:

How does the work of reckoning appear in your life — perhaps through deep listening, care for others, reflection of current practices, or through re-connection to land and place? How do the elements of fire, water, earth, and air inspire collaboration, offer new lessons and approaches, or demonstrate how the process of reckoning is both reflective and active?

Explore submissions from the IA member community.

Tristian Laney2024-10-28T06:06:16-07:00
At the center of the image is a large eye that hangs in mid-air. It is globular and its nerve endings hang off to one side making it look like a goldfish. There are strips of brown and blue papers on the bottom and top, creating mountainous forms on the bottom, and a cloudy night sky at the top. Hands arise from these forms in the bottom, and butterflies fly on top. In the background are the words ‘see through my eyes’ written over and over again. Some of the words are crossed out and re-written. A couple of drops of red are splattered between the butterflies. An outstretched arm enters the frame on the left.
Michael Dale Stokes2024-10-28T06:05:20-07:00
A collage against a white background. Counter-clockwise from the bottom right. Spiderman stands with a huge wig hovering above his head. A young girl with pigtails and a pink sweater is seen from the back. A mans headshot; he is bearded and wears a tall, pointy green hat. A chimp wears a grass hat. A horse wears a dried grass hat. A wolf looks out of a crystal ball. There are images of antique medicine bottles strewn around the image. There is text that says: revolution is hair; greener hair ahead; give hair; spiderman’s tangled web. The entire collage is covered in dots of paint that are yellow, brown, black.
Rula Awwad-Rafferty2024-09-27T13:23:18-07:00
The dried veins of a cactus plant rest against a Palestinian Tatriz embroidery pattern in red and black. A needle with green thread rests in the cactus, at the top of the frame.
Sonja Fritzsche2024-09-30T09:27:30-07:00
A painting rests against newsprint which is visible at the edges of the frame. The painting is splotches of green, yellow, and orange, against a dark blue background.with lines of red and peach – which seem to be made with fingers.
Meg Oldman2024-09-30T09:29:54-07:00
A square wooden frame. In the center of the frame is another square. A bronze piece of fabric with red, pink, cream, and brown, circles and suns. There are beads strung through parts of the fabric. The soft tufts of stalks of grass rests to the right. To the left, are a couple of nests. Around the fabric square is a band of white that is torn and colored by soil.
S. Coco Herda2024-09-28T06:40:31-07:00
A collage. On the top right is a flowering succulent captured from above. There are images of women who seem to be flying or reclining dispersed across the image. One is a statue, another has her back turned to us. There are flowers – cut from magazines and scrunched from craft paper – that pepper the canvas. The text ‘many colors of freedom’ is cut out and placed off center – many is horizontal, the rest vertical.
Amy Hart2024-09-28T06:44:09-07:00
A collage image. Yo the left is a vase that is dark and reflecting the sunny skies, grass, and white and red flowers and grill windows. Below that is wall paper of flowers in pinks, reds, and whites. In the middle is a series of images, as in a film strip, of a butterfly flying against towering trees. To the right is more decorative wallpaper, an impressionist painting of a flowering tree, and an illustration of two women watering a tree with their tears. A group of butterflies across the right side of the image. They are orange, blue-green, and black.
Jen Hirsch2024-09-26T10:57:17-07:00
A collage rests against a wooden table, which can be seen along the edges of the image. The image itself is a collage of decorative floral wallpaper, with cutouts of line drawings of leaves and flowers. There are strips of floral paper across the image as well. A folded bright yellow moon rests toward the top right of the image.
Dani Biala2024-09-28T06:47:39-07:00
A dense collage in an organic shape. There are images of women's eyes, geomteric shapes, flowers, Queen Elizabeth, columns and institutional buildings, and the ocean. A whale peeks in at the lower left hand corner of the image. These images are packed in with text that reads: workday; I was not instructed, so I was able to keep my freedom; you're muted; buring out; when even is a workday anymore? Why not here?