"One Suitcase" is a meditation on these questions and the questions that flowed from them.
This installation is me, who has been safe all my life, imagining what people who had to live through this may experience…"
Nan's focus centered in on this small suitcase. What would go into that one suitcase that you pack hurriedly in the dead of night as danger closes in? And as you travel the refugee road, what things are lost along the way? But then she also realized that perhaps eventually, along the way, there things received. What are those? What are the forces at work that move people to such dire struggles? The words that sprang up from these questions are the words that were beaded into the work.
As art often does, the project took on a life of its own. The original concept of the word originally began as one piece, It grew into a five-piece installation.
To honor the lives and losses of the refugees, to sit with these words as Nan does, is an act of compassion, literally meaning “to suffer with.” This is what it means when we say that Nan is passionate about her art. The One Suitcase installation was tough, it was a struggle. It took her over two years to complete. The last part was “Liberty,'‘ which is the photo to the left. It represents the plaque on the Statue of Liberty offering freedom to all who come to America for a better life.
“There are words like Freedom
Sweet and wonderful to say.
On my heartstrings freedom sings
All day everyday.
There are words like Liberty
That almost make me cry.
If you had known what I know
You would know why.”
Langston Hughes
In her own words:
“We all watched the refugees trying to get out of Damascus and Syria on the TV. I don't care much about the politics, or know anything really about what drives the politics there, but seeing people having to leave with their clothes on their back, people coming across the Mediterranean trying to get to Greece or Cyprus, and so many sank, it breaks your heart.
There was an image of people walking along a railroad track going towards Poland, trying to keep the kids together, trying to help each other walk, not knowing what's next in their life.
Often, you'd see a man with one small suitcase and the rest with bundles over their shoulders. This stuck with me. If this were me and I had a few minutes to get my family together, what would I want to take with me? I have lots of things, 70 years of sheet music, clothes, rugs . . . what would I take? I watched as more and more people crossed the beach. They were dropping things along the way.
If you walked along that beach, what might you find?"
One Suitcase
What - 5 objects
“One
"One Suitcase" an installation representing five elements of the global refugee crisis.
“Dropped on a Beach - a Shawl”
Each word is stitched - one size 11 seed bead at a time - as an individual “tag,” then attached to the beaded tubular cord. There are three rows of words. Each word has something to do with varied reasons for leaving one’s home, often unable to carry more than one suitcase. One section of words relates to good things that might happen if the journey is successful. The whole is attached to an Afghan shawl, purchased by Nan's father on site and given to her back in the early 1970’s. The shawl is made of goat, sheep, and yak fibers. The pieces of jewelry, including the Coptic crosses were brought back from Ethiopia by her father, and represent treasured possessions dropped on a beach or on a path traveled.
"A Suitcase”
The suitcase, once belonging to her grandmother, is filled with examples of what someone might grab in the rush of evacuation or any other reason to suddenly leave the home. When Nan pulled out the suitcase for this project, she found some long lost family photos. They're still in the suitcase. What would you put in there, if you only had minutes to escape danger and leave your home for good?
“Trafficking - a Jacket"
In the images and footage that inspired the work, the artist was struck by how many of the men wore jackets, just as her father left the house each day wearing what he called a “sports coat.”
Trafficking is usually an element of the relocation of a population - any population. This jacket names things which are bought and sold illegally globally. This piece of the installation was the hardest one to do.
"Strands and Symbols"
One single very long beaded cord decorated with icons and symbols of world cultures and religions. It is built on the collateral strand, which evolves as part of the process.
"Liberty - a Plaque"
Leaving is not the only experience of the refugee; arriving also happens. This piece is modeled after the bronze plaque on the base of the Statue of Liberty, which represents what people who come here seek. Nan has a personal link to the plaque as her great-grandparents were immigrants to the US from Bavaria. They came through Ellis Island.
