fiona henderson

et cetera

2022 / OCTOBER

2022 / SEPTEMBER

For Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor (1926- 2022)

She was born into a family of the utmost white privilege.
Whose destiny suddenly and drastically changed as a child.
She had a huge title, role and responsibility bestowed upon her as a young adult.

For 70 years and 214 days, she upheld her title and fulfilled her role and responsibility with dignity, respect, charm, humour, wit and loyalty.
She served and guided a Nation and Commonwealth by a high moral and ethical compass.

She attempted to adapt to the times, upholding tradition with modernity in a balance.
Her Majesty, the Queen, had a clear message and mission in ‘unification’ after the wrongs and horrors of colonialism and WWII.
Hopefully, the lovely Lilibet has left detailed instructions for her family firm and all those who are to succeed her — to transform the ‘unification’ she championed into coherent and all-encompassing ‘equality’ for a Nation, Commonwealth and World.
The grandest changes now need to be made.

Queen Elizabeth II, you were a constant in our lives.
I salute you with the utmost respect for your service, dedication, and fulfilment of duty and karma, but now, more than ever, speedily (The Times They Are a-Changin’)*

*(1963): Bob Dylan

2022 / AUGUST

2022 / JUNE

2022 / MAY

2022 / APRIL

Boundless Blue: Being: 360° Perspective Change: (And where have you been, my darling young one?)* (2021)

*(1962): Bob Dylan: A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall

22 APRIL 2022: Earth Day: Invest in our Planet

All sentient beings and ecosystems have a vested interest in the entangled web of interconnectedness on our fragile, beautiful BLUE ball.

2022 / APRIL

2022 / MARCH

@ Millepiani - Rome, Italy

This photo is part of a series inspired by a Federico Fellini story from his biography.*

The series uses personal shoes (UK size (7½)**) and reflects on Fellini’s humility by recognising that every pair of extra shoes we own is a ‘privilege’.
The works also celebrate ‘silly’ — much-needed in art and life today.

In this photo, I use a pair of 2017 Roger Vivier 50-anniversary French shoes — inspired by the Vivier pair used in the 1967 film Belle de Jour.***
The photo takes our gaze to the vintage mirror ThroughTheLookingGlass.****

The photo respects lineage (cross-referencing films & books) and captures the 1960s ‘vintage’ gaze with photo imperfections whilst honouring Fellini’s delivery of improvisation and delightful simplicity in his stories.

* ’I, Fellini’ (Charlotte Chandler — 1995)
** ‘Otto e mezzo’ (8½) (Federico Fellini — 1963)
*** ‘Belle de Jour’ (Luis Buñuel — 1967)
**** ‘ThroughTheLookingGlass’ (Lewis Carroll — 1871)

2022 / MARCH

Awakening People To Their Power (2022)

AHIMSA / SATYAGRAHA

2022 / MARCH

In celebration of Women’s History Month:

To know and respect the real ‘influencers’ — women who shaped / will shape society for the better.
Honouring four African American women:

Charlotte E. Ray (1850-1911): the first African American female lawyer in the United States.

Jane Matilda Bolin (1908-2007): attorney / and the first African American female judge in the United States.

Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005): civil rights movement strategist / state senator / and the first African American female federal judge in the United States.

Ketanji Brown Jackson (b.1970): attorney / federal judge / and the first African American female to be nominated as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

2022 / FEBRUARY

WAR IS OVER!
IF YOU WANT IT

Love and Peace from John & Yoko*

WAR IS OVER with GLOBAL COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS and UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY

* © 1970 / 2002: John Lennon & Yoko Ono.
Yoko Ono (b.1933, Tokyo, Japan): multimedia artist / singer / songwriter / peace activist.
John Winston Ono Lennon (1940-1980, Liverpool, England): singer / songwriter / musician / peace activist.

Both artists experienced World War II as children. They both use / used their art disciplines to actively change, lead and influence the world towards LOVE and PEACE.

2022 / FEBRUARY

@ Millepiani - Rome, Italy

‘Heyoka: The Magic Of Chaos In Order’ references the power and magic of the Native American Sioux Heyoka. The Heyoka is a member of the tribe who senses and expresses things with a different perspective; a contrarian, jester, clown (a mischief-maker, so to speak). The sacred Heyoka brings chaos to order, and solutions to problems unfold like ‘magic’.

IT’S MAGIC. A BEYOND EXPERIENCE

Selected work:
‘Kind Of Blue’: Ida / Pingala (2020)

‘Kind Of Blue’ references the 1959 magic of the modal jazz studio album by Miles Davies. The piece visually celebrates the stereophonic expansion of creative freedom with which the beauty of improvisation brings.
Likewise, scientifically, the two main energy channels of the human body (Ida / Pingala), when unblocked, can lead to spiritual freedom / liberation, witnessing the magic and the mysterious as they become mystical.

2022 / FEBRUARY

In celebration of Black History Month:


All history — despite its many points of data; time, date, place — is never linear. It has many curves and layers that overlap and take on many forms.
Just as we are all interconnected, events and experiences are intertwined too.

True history reveals itself in the collective acknowledgement and response to all the information of all people’s recollections, especially the experiences of marginalised communities. And the inequity or injustice in societal systems and policies needs to be fully revealed and corrected.
Ignorance or denial of the ugly, painful, and wrong segments of history stop all of us from forging our way forward together, towards harmony.

We now need to listen to the experts (such as Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw) to guide us on the correct path for a complete understanding of critical race theory.
As an educator, I support the inclusive teaching of critical race theory in schools and all education institutions.

'Who has fully realised that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?' Carl Gustav Jung.

'We are not makers of history. We are made by history.’ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2022 / JANUARY

2022 / JANUARY

Fluffy Shapes + Beautiful Blues: Rayleigh Scattering (2021)

‘Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you're gone.’ *

And again, the sky gets bigger, whilst knowing the point where nature and science & technology assist one another, respecting Mother Earth and our minds.

And yes! Do look up!
‘As is the atom, so is the universe. As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm.’
(Yatha pinde, tatha Brahmande)
All are connected, so the individual is truly cosmic:
‘As above, so below.’ **

A beautiful
TwentyTwentyTwo New Year
to you!

fiona xxx

*(1967): John Lennon / Paul McCartney: Lucy In The Sky

**From the ancient Vedas and Upanishads

2021 / NOVEMBER

November is Native American Indian Heritage Month, and on Nov 09 2021, a book: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, will be published in the US.*

I am particularly interested in the book** and the authors’ discussion of the ‘indigenous critique’. A critique of which is another step towards ending Eurocentrism; and recognising and understanding that all peoples and cultures did, do and will have information, knowledge and wisdom to offer humankind in the development and protection of our planet.

In a previous post (2021 / APRIL), I wrote that we need to — Learn from peoples and tribes (spiritual beings) who connect to nature: Listen to their wisdom.
We also need to respect their methods of listening, observing and understanding.
Indigenous tribes, peoples and cultures honour and respect nature; and accept nature’s forces and power. They do not try to control nature.

It is time to let go of our massive attachment to the ‘destructive’ elements and methods of our human-made systems (trade for profit/business/economy) and instead reflect upon all histories and philosophies and the truths and answers they bring.
We need to place our trust in natural systems to bring us back into balance in the place where we live.
And in doing so, Finding Our Trivedi: Our understanding, knowledge and wisdom of the ‘three-fold vision’ — past, present and future.

*Graeber, David, and David Wengrow. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021. Print.

**(Book review): Deresiewicz, William. “Human History Gets a Rewrite”. The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 18 October 2021. Web.

Although the triangular forms of this piece represent the Eastern Trinities of Tibet and India, ultimately, it is a sun mandala of our solar system star; the sun (Mother Nature’s Son) * — noting that these named Trinities do not exist without the sun’s energy.

The star of the sun mandala has five points which represent the Earth’s five elements.
Native tribes and indigenous peoples live in harmony with nature and the five elements, understanding that: ‘The sun is God. Anyone can see that.’ (Ochwiay Biano ‘Mountain Lake’ — Antonio Mirabal, a Taos Pueblos chief, New Mexico, USA). **

The title: For How Long Will I Exist?: Burning-Up references the non-archival quality of newsprint (the medium of the piece) and questions the relevance and preservation of physical artwork in the digital world and the projected importance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The literal existential question (the philosophical aspect) of the title is insignificant to the peoples of these two countries (Tibet and India) as they believe in rebirth and reincarnation.
This question also has no relevance to tribes and indigenous peoples who have a spiritual view of the sun and an utmost belief and trust in nature and higher, hidden energies — the mysteries of the world. Such peoples have a knowing and being, and are not, ‘…estranged from that dimension of reality which eludes the calculating grasp of human rationalisation.’ ***

*(1968): John Lennon / Paul McCartney: Mother Nature’s Son

**/ ***Wehr, Gerhard. Jung A Biography. Boston: Shambhala, 1987. Print.

2021 / OCTOBER

Drawings from one of Shirley’s classes (2010)

October 17th 2021

Today, with great sadness, I learnt of Shirley Henderson’s passing.

Shirley was a painter, courtroom illustrator, and arts educator. She greatly inspired me as an artist and a master teacher of her craft: portraiture.

Her classes were always full of honesty, humility, humour, encouragement and exciting stories.
I feel blessed and honoured to have had her teachings and instructions, and I always remember her ‘Vivaldi filled’ life drawing classes.

Rest in peace, ‘beautiful soul’ Shirley, you have a special place in my heart,
fiona xxx

2021 / OCTOBER

Privacy and Surveillance: aLife: Imperfect, Private (Zero Followers) (2013)
Detail

A Happening!

Yesterday, Friday 15 Oct, I posted a new curation: 2021 — getting there: gentleness... real beauty.
Today, whilst on a quick morning jog through the park, I overheard a snippet of conversation, “I am a wife and have a daughter. I used to be a narcissist. I am not there yet, but…”

What does this mean?

Connecting the dots; is this to do with Frances Haugen, the brave truth-teller (Facebook / Instagram whistleblower).

Does this snippet mean that ‘a shift in consciousness’ is happening?
2021 — getting there: gentleness (is) real beauty.

2021 / JUNE

‘And You’ll Never Walk Alone’: UFO’s & FC’s (CNES & FIFA: Who and what do we believe? Will we take sides?) (2017)

SUPERSONIC BOOGIE VIBE

Ahhh, finally, the Americans did it!
Thank you to France for starting the ‘truth + transparency’ process concerning the subject of UFO’s / UAP’s.

Document release:
FRANCE - Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES): 22 March 2007
USA - Pentagon: 25 June 2021

‘My Flying Saucer’ (with annotation: ‘Supersonic Boogie’) - Woody Guthrie
(It went to Billy Bragg & Wilco, but it should have gone to Dylan. What would Bob’s vibe have been?)

2021 / MAY

2021 / APRIL

Heat pops open oyster shells and reveals the oyster and sometimes a pearl, and on occasion even a rare, beautiful, black pearl.

Planet Earth gives us our world:
When we lose our Poles,
and the heat pops open our shell,
will the world ‘still’ be our oyster?
Will the world, our beautiful ‘Pearl’ — that offers all the opportunities for future generations — resemble a ruined black pearl, burnt and charred by CO2 and pollution; no longer blue?

Urgent Final Notification: When We Lose Our Poles (2020-21)

22 April 2021: Earth Day: RESTORE our Earth

The era of sustainability and protection has suddenly jumped to the action of regeneration and restoration, alarmingly so.
The world is our only oyster (currently), and we have failed to protect it, so now we need to RESTORE it.

We need to:

— Be optimistic.

— Look to find our universal responsibility and spiritual unity to restore our planet, oceans and ecosystems for the next generations, so that they will have the opportunity for a healthy, bountiful exploration and existence.

— Learn from peoples and tribes (spiritual beings) who connect to nature: Listen to their wisdom.

— And learn from people with scientific knowledge and expertise:
A glass of carbon dioxide:
‘Carbon is unusual in its family of elements because it has gaseous oxides. But under high pressure, carbon dioxide forms crystalline solids and can become a glass — so revealing the chemical family resemblance.’ Paul F. McMillan, Chemist.

2021 / MARCH

In celebration of Women’s History Month:
Honouring two women who are changing the world:
Timnit Gebru: computer scientist
Kate Raworth: economist

Post-modernism presented us with all narratives; the high-tech industry (run and operated ‘mostly’ by males) coded and used algorithms to put these narratives in order, yet chaos prevails…
Where will advanced ‘prepared’ AI take us?
Are we meant to operate by ‘prepared’ order, or should we retain elements of chaos?
Most importantly, who should prepare the AI?

In accepting a predominantly male generated coding and AI, we will obtain Industrialised and Corporate era results; and long-term, these did not have beneficial outcomes for our ecosystems and the planet.

Although we love the males in our life, the new direction forward has to be about equality and diversity.
Now more than ever, we need to inspire, encourage and guide girls and women into coding.

The perspective, awareness and consciousness of women produce great all-encompassing thinkers, protectors, nurturers, problem solvers, educators and communicators. Women know how to ask for help, which is not a sign of weakness but a sign of a deep understanding of ‘being’ and know-how in solving problems.

Support companies that are @least50%women, and watch how the world changes.

2021 / FEBRUARY

In celebration of Black History Month:

We will go forward towards new horizons where changes happen, and everyone is protected, and no one is vulnerable.
Stand-up and protect neighbours, colleagues, strangers.
Black Lives Matter (2013 — until the REAL changes happen for good).

This collage was made via zoom, working alongside teenagers on the free after-school program: Teen Art Force @MOCAnomi.
It was created on Nov 3, the day of the 2020 US election, and is part of a continuing project on activism and ‘Positive Messaging’ which addresses social justice and concerns in the students’ lives, such as BLM and the climate crisis.

I dedicate the piece to all the teenagers that I have had the pleasure of teaching since 2010. You have taught me so much, you are my biggest inspiration, and I cherish every one of you.
When we give teenagers a simple, safe and loving space, we can then watch with joy their creativity, free spirit, and expression of thought, truth and wonder; and this is really, quite beautiful to see and to learn from.

The piece honours Kamala Harris, a woman of colour, who on Nov 7 2020, became the Vice-President-Elect of the United States and on Jan 20 2021, became Vice-President: ‘I am who I am. I’m good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I’m fine with it.’
She will also lead us forward to new and bright horizons and unity.

2021 / JANUARY

2020 / DECEMBER

Phármakon, Pharmakós: (27+1) or (28-1): Transparent Discord (2016)

Done!
31 December 2020
Well, ‘you can’t always get what you want’

2020 / DECEMBER

2020 / NOVEMBER

On The Roof Of The World: Young Tibetan Buddhist monks (post- Losar prayers and celebrations), Darjeeling, India (2005)

He shared his gift throughout the world.
Everyone knew of him.
Everyone loved his genius.
☆
25 November 2020.
The light of the star becomes ever brighter.

2020 / NOVEMBER

Waiting For The Big Blue Wave (2020)

2020 / OCTOBER

Always In The Very Pink Of The Mode: 50 Petals
The Role Of A Flower: Nº 1 Dandelion (Joy / Energy) (2020)

‘What is the role of a flower?’
(Jiddu Krishnamurti)


To my lovely friend and mentor Paul,
happy 50th anniversary @PaulSmith.
Sending ‘MANY CONGRATULATIONS’ from ‘across the pond’,
and much love and gratitude,
xxx fiona xxx

Mentorship:
The beauty and importance of a person imparting knowledge, expertise or guidance to another person should always be encouraged and continued.
It is never too late to find a mentor or become a mentor:
The linage created brings immense joy and friendship, and forms the best generational alliance of ideas and knowledge.

Take The Baton / Pass The Baton

2020 / OCTOBER

@ Virtual Exhibit

REPRESENT

Selected work:
‘Both Directions At Once’: Colour App N° 1 (2013)

2020 / AUGUST

2020 / JULY

‘Sound And Vision’ (2020)

2020 / MAY

Haile Selassie / United Nations General Assembly / 4 October 1963
Bob Marley / ‘War’ / 1976
In Memoriam / George Floyd / 25 May 2020

Explained by Jane Elliott

2020 / MAY

On The Path: Patience (2020)

2020 / APRIL

Unity With Teardrop (2020)

— 50 years EARTH DAY: April 22, 2020 —

The earth, world populations and ecosystems are all in a delicate position.

Personal responsibility and respect bring about global responsibility and respect.
Be strong and take care of your present, immediate community.

Science and nature will bring clarity, wisdom and solutions; and our unity will transcend our fragility and help alleviate our sadness.

Global peace, respect and love,
fiona xxx

‘Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.’
(Niels Bohr)

2020 / MARCH

2020 / FEBRUARY

The Role Of A Flower: Nº 2 African Violet (Connection / Protection / Spirituality) (2020)
‘Chatilla Press’

‘What is the role of a flower?’
(Jiddu Krishnamurti)

2020 / JANUARY

HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR everyone!
With love and gratitude,
fiona xxx

2019 / JULY

How time flies… and the sky gets bigger!

— 25 years —
of practicing and teaching yoga for
physical & mental health and wellness.

A big celebration and thank you to all the beautiful teachers and students
with whom I have had the great fortune to practice with and forever learn from.

— FEET in the SKY YOGA —
currently teaching students and faculty in university: for focus + energy + peace.

Some things in life require balance & symmetry
— yoga —
be centred
∞

2019 / JUNE

@66th floor, One World Trade Center - New York, NY

2019 / MARCH

@Metropolitan Pavilion - New York, NY

2019 / MARCH

2018 / DECEMBER

2018 / OCTOBER

2018 / FEBRUARY

Together again! - London, England

2017 / MAY

Sculptures finished!

2016 / JUNE

2015 / APRIL , AUGUST

@Boulevard Raspail - Paris, France

2014 / JUNE

As You Are, As It Is - Wynwood Miami, Fl. USA

2013 / MARCH

The HANGAR | Gallery & Arts Initiative

Miami Minds Exhibition - March Artwalk

For this month’s art walk, The Hangar Gallery collaborated with the Florida Grand Opera to promote for their upcoming showcase at the Stage. Performed at 3 different set times throughout the night, the opera previews were selections from Robert Rodriguez’s Tango and Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires. They were performed by the Florida Grand Opera’s Young Artist Studio which is a leading training program for opera singers.

The “Miami Minds” art show was guest curated by Vivian Azalia and featured artwork by newcomers Take Your Pills with stencil cutouts of old family members and Fiona Henderson depicting a fresh perspective on appearance. Along with the new artwork was a Steinway & Sons grand piano in the middle of the gallery which served as musical accompaniment for the singers.

hangargallery.wordpress.com

Miami Minds - Wynwood Miami, Fl. USA

2012 / JUNE

@The Fiona Fountain - Venice, Italy (2012)