2017 - Diana Maria Rossi ⨕ A R T

The Insignificant Triptych

In 2017, I made the triptych, "Insignificant", specifically for a show of miniature art at
D. Thomas Fine Miniatures. The show was called Wee#Resist. I made three pieces in a series -- another term for this arrangement would be a more generalized type of triptych; that is, a series having three related parts, not parts that are physically hinged together. Each piece stands or hangs alone but they do work in concert to express what is so troubling to me right now, going on around me, in our beautiful world.

When I began this series, I wanted to do one piece about climate change, one about women's reproductive rights, and one about immigration and refugees. I could have made a few more, but I knew that I would need more than 3 months (my lead time), so I whittled down my immediate areas of outrage, worry and concern to these three areas.

I used the title "Insignificant" because on each piece I used a quote which is usually attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: "Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it. "Insignificant" also alludes to these sculptures' small scale --- a push-back to the larger world's trifling of that which is small in stature.

This Gandhi quote is one that I have printed up on a box of glass in my studio; a quote that I have used in at least one other sculpture; and a quote that I have often gone to for guidance. It is easy to sink into despair and these words give me respite and a point of focus. I decided to use this quote on all three pieces as a way of connecting them and the issues and also because effecting change can seem so overwhelming. I studied the quote a bit and I was jazzed when I realized that by singling out the word "Insignificant" I could also be talking about a negative characterization of the world of the miniature --- how the small and the tiny are so often seen as inconsequential. When I realized this, I knew then, that I had the metaphorical hinges to link my triptych.

The Gandhi quote is located on each piece on a rounded shiny shape, rather on the outskirts. In #1 it is atop the arc; in #2 it is around the lamp shade; in #3, it is around the half-sphere that projects from the piece like an atmospheric orb. I wanted the quote to be somewhere involving light or guidance.

"Insignificant : I ) The World is Flat"

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

This quote by Hannah Arendt, a German born American political theorist / philosopher (1906-1975), was the inspiration and seminal idea for "The World is Flat". In "The World is Flat", I tried to speak about our environment, climate change, scientific fact and how the erosion of truth diminishes us all, our natural world included.

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" glass mosaic on wood with photos, text, ruler and a rose quartz marble 6" long x 14.25" high x 7.5" deep ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail ] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Fare thee well to honey bees / say adieu to birds / the crickets had their last quartet / the polar bears last dance." [text around sides and front at top]

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"we were / promised / the moon" [text around orb pedestal]

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"His nose has increased so much."
[text at base of Pinocchio image]

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

Here is a River of Facts. (click to read)

This River of Facts is brought to you by NASA , and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"We hold these truths to be self-evident --- that climate change is real (for now); that CO2 has exceeded a safe level, our oceans are warming, the ice caps are melting, and polar bears are threatened with extinction." [text encircling base]

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"There is a hole in the ozone bigger than the hole in my worried heart that knows this is a human made problem."
[text on side of "river"]

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail ] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail/ top view ] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it." Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi

"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail of underside] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

This is the underside of the piece and includes climate change facts as they pertain to coral reefs. This fact sheet was generated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Department of Commerce (National Ocean Service), and can be read here: River of Facts

Insignificant : II ) No Body's Hostess"

"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

"Nevertheless her mind must have been strained and her vitality lowered by her need to oppose this."
- Virginia Woolf from p. 228 of Tillie Olsen's Silences

mosaic interior with a table and chairs and drawings on the wall of hangars

"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" glass mosaic on wood (and cutting board) with text, drawings, reproductions of lithograph collages, hangars, jigsaw blades, copper wire and cupcakes 12.5" long x 10" high x 5.5" deep ©Diana Maria Rossi 20 copy

"No Body's Hostess" took shape in response to a lawmaker from Oklahoma, Justin Humphrey, who said that he thought that when a woman became pregnant then her body was a "host". I thought that that was a very strange and a supremely alienating concept for any woman to have to hear about her own body and so the theme for this piece was born.

"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

These were regular-sized charcoal pencil (with china marker in some) drawings that I made in the 1980's. They were maybe 24"x 16" (approx.) in their orginal size and I reduced them to use here.