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I wrote to several overseas compatriot artists (I'm the overseas one, temporarily) after Sept 11, that we'd seen a sample of the worst that mankind can do, and our only recourse was to try to paint some of the best of what mankind can imagine.
A very thoughtful man here in Taipei put some of this in perspective for me. The U.S. September events were horrific, and they changed the political world. But in Bhopal, India, 3800 people died from a chemical pollution "incident". In 1996, 25,000 people died from a meningitis outbreak. An earthquake in 2001 in Bhuj, India, killed 200,000 [did anyone read about that in the local paper? Did any wars break out?]; an earthquake in 1970 killed 66,000 in Peru; one in Mexico in 1985 killed 80,000. A hurricane in Central America in 1988 killed 12,000. Within minutes' drive from my current expatriate residence in Taipei, Taiwan, many people died in last fall's typhoons, which also required us to abandon our home for some time, in fear of landslides.
The work that we do after Sept. 11 will depict the people who lived through, survived, suffered from the incidents of that day and the times afterward, people whose memories include where they were when they heard of the New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania tragedies, attrocities.
We as artists all have the rarest of privileges, to capture the essence of our portrait subjects -- even if and as troubled by the events of the times -- as no one else can.
As artists we are challenged and blessed to be able to depict those emotions. Don't be intimidated by the challenge. Be honored.
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