Brook-Lynne Clark spent a lot of time at her great grandmother’s house as a child. She remembers constantly interjecting, “Are they done yet?” while she waited in the kitchen for what felt like hours as her great-grandmother prepared Clark’s favorite butter beans. It’s still a meal she associates with unconditional love.
Clark will be bringing her great-grandmother’s butter beans to a communal dinner she’s hosting at Arts Mission Oak Cliff this Saturday to celebrate “the dishes that raised us.” The event is part of a series of workshops the Dallas-based performance and video artist is hosting to help develop her upcoming exhibition, titled “In the Time It Took,” slated for opening in July.
Attendees are invited to bring dishes from their childhood that made them feel loved and safe, or even dishes they created to care for themselves.
“Come as you are, you don’t even have to bring food if you don’t want to,” she said.
Clark hopes the gathering will encourage community members to relate to each other over shared childhood experiences, and prompt conversations that will help inspire her exhibition.
She said working on this project is the first time she’s thought about her childhood through the lens of art. Looking back, she said the time she spent living with her great grandmother was particularly vivid. She plans to make installations and videos to capture that feeling for her exhibition.
“It’s about my experience being a child in her house, and just feeling loved and really understood for the first time,” she said.
Clark said we collectively carry around a lot of heaviness from the stress and anxiety of our daily lives. The heart of this project is taking a moment to recognize how we carry around the good stuff with us, as well.
“I think it’s really important to realize the weight of the joy that we’ve experienced,” Clark said.
Details: The “In the Time It Took,” community meal and workshop will be held Saturday June 3 from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. The event is free, but donations are welcome. Information about upcoming workshops can be found on the Arts Mission website.
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