A Thousand Cuts

What painful life experiences would you channel into a pliant lump of clay?

This spring Getty partnered with two LA nonprofits—the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace and the Feminist Center for Creative Work (FCCW)—to design art classes that would foster a deep connection between older Angelenos and their community and also inspire them to stay active and social through artmaking.

The resulting six-week course included a field trip to Camille Claudel, Getty’s major exhibition about a brilliant but underrecognized French sculptor working in the 19th century. Participants also enjoyed a special talk and tour by the show’s curator, Anne-Lise Desmas.

Back at GenSpace, the group created clay sculptures and shared stories about the challenges women have faced throughout history, some of which remain obstacles.

Mandy Harris Williams, programming director for FCCW, encouraged the group to share personal stories. “It’s really beautiful to just say, ‘You are an important voice in the community of people who witness art and who make art,’” she says.

Amber Janke, GenSpace’s operations and program manager, loved witnessing the range of responses to the show and the class’s activities.

“Here at GenSpace we love being able to witness how people react to different experiences,” she says. GenSpace’s mission is to reimagine aging through learning, connection, and wellness while disrupting ageist stereotypes.

How did participants react to Claudel’s pained, passionate work? Here’s a sampling of what they told us.

Dorothy Calloway

“When I learned about Claudel, I said: ‘You know what? That could be an example of all female artists, not just a French woman, but also an African American, Native American, Latino, anybody brown or Black.’ And I started researching on my own. She sparked an interest in other women artists.

“After hearing her story, I thought of the saying ‘a thousand cuts.’ For me, everywhere you go, you’ve got to be aware you’re African American. And sometimes you go through a day, no problem, and then sometimes you go a day and it’s a challenge. So I said, ‘Let me do a sculpture on it.’ So I started doing it, and ideas started coming, and I was putting cuts into the clay, but then I said: ‘Wait a minute. Don’t let the thousand cuts bother you. Arise from it. Every time that comes up, you take the high road, because if you don’t, you end up like Camille, in an institution for 30 years.’”

Ron Stone

“I learned in this class that I need to just be more open in situations, just be more available to express myself freely and not be overly controlling or concerned about the outcome.

“Clay is something very pliable. It’s something that can express whatever it is that you’re feeling or what you want to convey, whether it’s something very realistic or something very abstract. It can be a wonderful way to just express yourself.”

Sungihm Son

“I’ve been working hard for a living. But at 70, I started art classes. After joining GenSpace, I started drawing, and then we had this sculpture class. It was like I was stepping into the darkness, the totally unknown, but...it feels so good. Every moment I learn new things, discover more about artist intent. And then, when I’m making this sculpture, that infuses my experiences together.”

Margaret Chavez

“I worked in apparel, designing fashion. And in fashion design, you work with your hands a lot: pattern making, working with scissors, working with fabric. I was able to express that again, working with the clay and manipulating the clay with my hands, which I love doing.

“Last week the piece I made was a body, maybe my body, and it sounds kind of gross, with the colon coming out of the belly and wrapped around. I had colon cancer 27 years ago. I was operated on and it was successful, and I’ve lived all these years cancerfree. This week my sculpture is my hand holding a piece of ribbon. Somebody suggested calling it Transformation, since last week I made a colon coming out of a body and this week it’s transformed into this beautiful ribbon fabric.”

Antoinette Scott

“Clay sculpture is interesting because it’s not something I would ever do—I didn’t want it in my fingernails! I also wear a lot of jewelry, and taking off my jewelry felt like I was stripping my fingers.

“Coming... up with ideas of what to make was quite abstract to me. I am a crafter, but it’s never with clay–so that was a whole new experience. It took some getting used to, and I cannot say that my first few pieces were master artworks. But today I did a pretty good piece. It’s the dancer. And that was influenced by my own experience of ballet. I always aspired to be a ballerina. So I thought today, that’s what I would do, a dancer. I call the piece Let’s Dance.”