Diana Maria Rossi  ⨕  A R T
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​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"  

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"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.
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"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
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail ] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"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]
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
"we were / promised / the moon"           [text around orb pedestal]
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"Insignificant - I) The World is Flat" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
"His nose has increased so much."
[text at base of Pinocchio image]

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

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

picture of text:
"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.
​
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" (detail) ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"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.

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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
"Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it." Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
(this quote is located around the lampshade)
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
"Dear World
I don't need
​your
permission
to exist on
my own terms"
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"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
Picture of mosaic chair with wee cupcake in the middle of the back!
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
Picture of top of chair
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
No Body's But Mine....
Picture of chair
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
Picture of top of chair with writing
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
No Body's Hostess...
view from the top of the copper wire roof looking down on the table and floor
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
View from the top
(the copper wire roof)

picture of bottom --- three repeat collages of a woman's face in a landscape and bodies
"Insignificant - II) No Body's Hostess" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The Bottom
The bottom of this piece is covered with partial reprints of a photo lithograph with collage that I made in the 1980's. This collage was part of  a series called "Right to Life", which was inspired by the poem of the same name by Marge Piercy.




"Insignificant: III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)"

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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

 "Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" speaks to my feelings about immigration and the status of refugees in our Country. Emma Lazarus' poem, "The New Colossus" which is engraved on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty's base was my point of emotional reference for this piece. I used just a few bits of this poem but I featured the last line, "... I lift my lamp bedside the golden door!" as an inscription on the lintel of the wardrobe. Two other lines of the poem run in tiny, tiny print along the lintel's sides. 

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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" glass mosaic on wood with ceramic, text, photos, hinges and lightbulb 7.5" long x 15.75" high x 11" deep ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017 copy

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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017

The first pattern on the far left is Scotch watch plaid, representing Europe; the second pattern next to that is traditional mud cloth from Mali, representing Africa; the third pattern is white for Antarctica! ; the fourth pattern is a traditional wonky log cabin quilt pattern (made by me and two friends) representing North America; the fifth pattern is a blue ocean wave pattern from Japan representing Asia; the sixth pattern is an Aboriginal dot painting pattern representing Australia; and the seventh pattern is an Andean textile pattern representing South America. 

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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The "Wall of Fear" or how to say "fear" in 32 different languages. For a key to the bricks you can click here.
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
My Babci's china grace these doors.
Thousands of Jewish refugees were refused entry into the United States during World War II.  Anne Frank and her family were among them.
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The above panels are loosely excerpted from:
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act
which is generated by the Office of the Historian connected to the U.S. State Department
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The Immigration Act of 1924
(The Johnson Reed Act)
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The Bottom
these are lyrics to "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
“Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.” attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
The Bottom
for more about Woody Guthrie's lyrics to "This Land is Your Land" click here.
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"Insignificant - III) Seven Continental Patterns Wash Away the Fear (of the Other)" [detail] ©Diana Maria Rossi 2017
"Welcome" in 32 different languages. For the key, click here.



I redid this piece in 2019 (excavated and added to)  in order to improve a design flaw that was disturbing to my eye.
glass mosaic totem on wood with photograph from Portugal or Spain on the top --- an image of a goddess. The piece has a black snakelike form going down the length of the piece and on the bottom, there is a red round shape, kind of like an eye or an orb surrounded by white triangles in a white background. The circle is ringed with turquoise glass and there are amber colored glass triangles like flippers on the bottom.
"Eve's Place Redux" glass mosaic on wood with photo and nail 13" x 6.25" x 2" ©Diana Maria Rossi 2019
detail of Eve's Place Redux - the top tv head part -- a cube with a photo of a park in either Spain or Portugal of a woman's statue. The photo is in black and white with a pink cast and is surrounded by green and aqua colored glass
detail of "Eve's Place Redux" ©Diana Maria Rossi 2019
detail of the bottom part of the totem mosaic with a red, round orb -- eyelike surrounded by white spokes on a white background. Two amber colored triangle flippers border the circle.
detail of "Eve's Place Redux" ©Diana Maria Rossi 2019
purple hand with blue fingernails holding a red rose with yellow halo
















Thank you for taking the time to look at what I have made.
I can be reached at: dianarossi@sonic.net
      "A Rose in the Hand is Better"
       
glass mosaic on wood
       5.5"x 6.5"x .75"
       ©Diana Maria Rossi 1990
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                 

        all original images and words © 2014-2022 Diana Maria Rossi ​
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