This month, Stony Brook University will be hosting an exhibit displaying the works of three diverse and very talented artists – Diana Salomon, Hagar Masoud and Ria Rajan. This presentation will be an awe-inspiring eruption of emotion regarding motherhood, strain and affiliation.
Photographer Diana Salomon, a mother of four, uses her own personal experiences to move spectators through her work. Salomon makes the many hats mothers wear apparent as they struggle to balance the needs of their children, a career and their own personal lives. At this display, Salomon will specifically be focusing on the emotional bond invoked between mother and child through the breastfeeding journey.
“I am passionate about my art. I feel as though mothers who are artists face a considerable amount of criticism. Oftentimes, people voice that they are either terrible artists, or subpar parents,” said Salomon. “My goal is to debunk this theory and prove that we, specifically as mothers, can excel both at home and in whatever else that we are passionate about.”
This month, Stony Brook University will be hosting an exhibit displaying the works of three diverse and very talented artists – Diana Salomon, Hagar Masoud and Ria Rajan. This presentation will be an awe-inspiring eruption of emotion regarding motherhood, strain and affiliation.
New York-based artist and educator Hagar Masoud uses oral history, social engagement, objects, photography and virtual reality to bring visitors on an interactive journey through trauma. Masoud creatively reveals the devastating impact of Female Genital Mutilation, also known as “FGM,” on young girls.
Masoud’s purpose is to unveil the lifelong physical and emotional suffering that victims endure after engaging in such a practice. Masoud highlights the need to end FGM and fights to protect the rights of these females.
Ria Rajan is an intermedia artist. She explores the mediums of image and placemaking with a concentration on intangible and ephemeral experiences of time and space, both natural and constructed.
Recurring themes in her work are light, color fields and landscapes. Rajan’s display at the exhibit consists of a series of polaroid emulsion lifts of light recordings— both reflections and Lumia art. This exhibit will pique the interest of every Long Islander, as Rajan’s records of golden light are original, and taken from Long Island landscapes shot over the fall, winter and spring seasons.
“This will be my first show in Long Island and I’m most excited to share all the art with all the people,” Rajan said. “Such a joy to be in this three-person show with Diana and Hagar. All three of us have diverse practices and it’s been a privilege to see our work develop and transform into what you see today. I hope that through this show and our own work we continue to expand the boundaries of what it means to be an artist and the various roles an artist can play – a mother, a storyteller, an observer, a documenter, an alchemist, a cook. Moving beyond standard definitions of who an artist is and thinking about the act of art making itself.”
The trio will display their thought-provoking and inspiring art from May 2 to May 17 in the Lawrence Alloway Gallery at Stony Brook University. All are welcome to attend.
