COMMON GROUND

The series for 2025 has been an interesting journey. It started out as a combination photo essay and poetry endeavor but evolved through events that were out of my control after the events detailed in an article in Issue 19 of 1UV MONTHLY.  You can read the article at the link provided below. You can read more about the process, time line and events in the series catalog for sale at 1UV Gallery Studio for $$$$$$$.

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The past 5+ years have been a strange landscape of eroding rights for Americans, particularly American women, but all have been affected. The results of government sponsored Covid lockdown fear mongering coupled with continued assault on humanity by tech "progress" have been devastating to youth, culture, and social structures. According to the NIH youth suicide rates skyrocketed in the months of the pandemic lock down and studies are revealing the destruction of youth's ability to effectively communicate as a result of integration of technology and social media platforms into all aspects daily life. Young people are losing the ability to write. This is being seen across all socio-economic demographics. And when out in public it seems that no one knows how to be in relationship with anyone in any kind of civil manner. There has been a great dying off of significant parts of our shared humanity, isolating us from each other and our selves. Politics and the example being set by American "leadership" have become a threat to general safety.  Are we as a culture ready to lay to final rest the things that tie us in our common humanity? Death can not be escaped by any of us, and even the common ground of the Earth that we are buried in has become controversial in modern communities. Where do we go now that common sense, common decency, common courtesy, and common curiosity have become anything but common?   

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Common Sense -- good sense and sound judgment in practical matters.

Common Decency -- the ethical and moral behavior that involves treating others with respect, fairness, and understanding.

Common Courtesy - the basic level of politeness that people are generally expected to show. It can also refer to the moral or ethical behavior that is guided by fairness, empathy, and justice.

Common Curiosity -- the natural human inclination to explore, learn, and understand the world, a shared trait that drives us to ask questions, seek new experiences, and expand our knowledge.

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This series includes a number of photo essays documenting burial grounds and swaths of destruction, a collection of poetry about my experience of these places, and a final installation piece of a common ground of headstones for the attributes that once connected us in our common humanity.

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Always,

Larissa

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