Protest As Play Artists Discussion: Theresa BrownGold
Theresa Browngold, Left: Without Frank Right: Frank , oil on canvas, 48" x 48" ea.
We'd love to learn more about you and your work. Would you be willing to share a short bio, artist statement, or a few thoughts about what inspires your creative perspective and projects?
Short Bio:
Theresa BrownGold is the painter/writer/performance artist/lyricist behind Art As Social Inquiry LLC.
She uses art to start dialog around social issues.
Theresa started Art As Social Inquiry in 2008. Since then, she has added performance art and lyric writing to her portrait painting project as ways to further raise awareness about social issues.
The artist has painted over 200 portraits. Her work has been written about in many publications including the Journal of the American Medical Association, and featured on ZDF German television, WHYY public television and other outlets. She has given many talks about Art As Social Inquiry at conferences, college classrooms, churches, senior centers, and other venues. The artist received the 2011 PA Health Access Network Georgeanne Koehler Activist of the Year Award for her painting series Healthcare in the United States. In 2013 the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare named her stand-out advocate. Theresa is the recipient of a 2013 Leeway Foundation Art and Change grant. In 2017 Theresa received a grant from the Puffin Foundation. Her portrait Joann was one of six finalists in the Independent Lens "visionary art-making" competition.
Theresa sometimes uses her art to publicly demonstrate in public spaces as a way of bringing awareness to an issue. In 2012 she stood with her healthcare portraits in front of the US Supreme Court and Capitol buildings in Washington DC for five months to underscore the difficulties Americans were having accessing healthcare.
In 2017 the GOP ramped up efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The artist responded by attending congressional hearings and wearing tee shirts with hand-painted messages on them for the House and Senate committee members to see
Artist Statement:
Our opinions affect our actions. Art As Social Inquiry unearths those opinions.
The paintings / writing / performance art / lyrics offer themselves up as recipients of uneasiness, justifications, political correctness, rationalizing, embarrassment, rage, sadness, compassion, hate, fear, hope, anxiety…whatever.
The art will not yell back. But we can observe ourselves reacting to the faces and their stories and perhaps reflect. Behind every social issue is a real person.
My hope is that personal connections are forged between the viewers and the subjects’ stories. What if what happened to somebody else — the other — happened to us?
To even ask is a compassionate act. If we see ourselves in another’s place, we become part of the solution.
Theresa Browngold, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Patient - Insurance Drives Every Decision, oil and broken glass on canvas, 48" x 30"
What issues, concerns, or topics are currently top of mind for you?
I learned by exploring access to healthcare that the necessary changes to improve lives lands us at our lawmakers’ doorsteps. Systemic change happens when our representatives enact laws and policies that improve lives.
I am still very much concerned about the suffering so many in this country feel when they get sick and are afraid to seek care. I believe this country suffers from what I call medical PTSD. So many are uninsured and underinsured. They are afraid that seeking the care they need will result in medical bills that could, in some cases, bankrupt them.
Would you like to share anything about your creative process, either in general or in relation to a recent work?
I’ve pushed hard against the current political climate. My recent efforts harken back to my understanding that lawmakers make policy. I draw attention to politicians not doing their jobs to make good laws that help people lead productive lives. My most recent political painting is called Wannabe Fascist Boy King, Lazy Cosplay President, Convicted Felon, Sexual Predator, Wounded Child Mind. CONGRESS, DO YOUR JOB!
What are you currently working on, or what projects are you hoping to pursue in the near future?
I am working on another painting for my healthcare series. The current administration and Congress let what’s called the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced subsidies expire. This means many individuals who buy policies on the online marketplaces can no longer afford the premiums without the additional financial help. I just interviewed a single mother who is facing going uninsured and just buying insurance for her daughter. The story is tragic. However, if I’m honest, I have to admit that as a painter I am very excited to be painting this subject’s portrait. A lot of soul comes through her face.
