KATRINA SERIES

Acrylic/Canvas           53" x 65 1/2" Fr          Not to be sold individually

"My first thoughts of creating a painting of the suffering people on the elevated highways in New Orleans was in an apartment in Jackson, Ms., where we had taken refuge after Katrina.

The visions on television were so moving; yet, I was never able to come-up with a concept that satisfied my needs for expression.  I kept these ideas in the "back of my head", as I produced paintings for my exhibit-ion at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).

 Finally, several weeks after that exhibition opened, I began working on what eventually became a trip-tych.  They were exhibited at NOMA last summer for a few months, commemorating the third anniversary of Katrina.

I had been into New Orleans many times by then and had gone to the devastated areas, including the highways, that put me, at least, physically in touch with these tragedies - the emotions I already had.

What began as one painting grew into three, as I needed to say more about the terrible conditions these people were living in.  It was a difficult road; but, when the last piece was finished, I felt purged of my feelings about the enormous tragedy."   by ROLLAND GOLDEN   

(C) Rolland Golden