The Present

The "Insignificant" Triptych

I made this triptych, "Insignificant", specifically for a show of miniature art at D. Thomas Fine Miniatures, called Wee#Resist. I made three pieces in a series or 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 use 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 / philospher (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 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."

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

"we were / promised / the moon"

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

"His nose has increased so much."

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

Here is a River of Facts.

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."

"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."

"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] ©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).

"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

"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.

"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)

"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"

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

No Body's But Mine....

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

No Body's Hostess...

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

View from the top
(the copper wire roof)

"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)"

"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.

"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

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.

The "Wall of Fear" or how to say "fear" in 32 different languages. For a key to the bricks you can click here.

“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

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.

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