Bhavna Mehta
2019 Artist in Residence
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The Body is a Home
May 31 to July 20 2019 Body as Home and Home as Body. Over a series of workshops at Monarch school, Bhavna worked with the Expressive Arts teachers and a group of middle school students to talk and draw bodies, movement and the idea of home. What does it mean when we say that the body is a home - there are many responses to this question. Where do we feel most at home in our bodies? Students painted their silhouettes, wrote about their experiences and created movement about how they felt in their bodies. These ideas and conversations come together in a dance performance and visual art installation at Art Produce. Open Studio
Saturdays May 4, 18, 25 12-4pm The Art Produce Cooler room is a happening place. Come visit Bhavna and chat about paper, sculpture, heart as metaphor, and body as home. As she prepares her installation opening in the gallery on May 31, she is gathering thoughts and ideas and conversations to incorporate into her work. Opening Reception: Friday, May 31st 6-8pm Featuring a dance performance by students of Monarch School. Choreography by Erika Malone and original music by Veronica May - movement and music created in collaboration with the students. Artist Talk: Saturday, June 15th 6-8pm Featuring a performance by LOUD Collective and friends. Alessandra Moctezuma and Akiko Surai will lead the community in a performance aided by sculptural objects created to embody women's stories. Happy Hour: Friday, July 12th 6-8pm Hear a story, share a story. 
This activity was supported in part by the Artists Activating Communities program of the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov. About the Artist:
Bhavna Mehta works with paper – cutting and embroidering it to tell stories that combine figurative imagery with botanical motifs, text and shadows. Using paper as skin and thread to connect and mend, using cutting and sewing to talk about exposing and hiding, she makes work about relating and remembering. Mehta has exhibited widely in San Diego and Southern California. She is the recipient of the Artists Activating Communities grant from the California Arts Council (2017, 2018) in partnership with Art Produce and the Creative Catalyst grant from The San Diego Foundation (2015) with Oceanside Museum of Art. She has won multiple awards in juried shows and she was one of the San Diego Art Prize emerging artist winners. She collaborates with artists making public art, using paper as a design medium. She has engineering degrees from both India and US and worked as a software engineer for many years before turning to art. Mehta teaches paper cutting and sculpture at Penland School of Craft, San Diego Book Arts and in varied venues around San Diego County and beyond. |
About Monarch School:
The mission of the Monarch School is to educate students impacted by homelessness and to help them develop hope for a future with the necessary skills and experiences for personal success. |
