Me, Myself and Eye

ONLINE PRESENTATION

Me, Myself and Eye Home   //  Leslie Elsasser - Introduction   //  Selina Roman - Mind Currents   //  Michael Ball   //  TC Bryant   //  Larry Busby   //  David Canaday   //  Michael Congdon   //  Brandie Dziegiel   //  Loretta Fields   //  Jeaniel Image   //  Douglas Eric Jordan   //  Valerie Larson   //  John Leduc   //  Jason Lind   //  Mikko Maki   //  Alex Martinez   //  Matias   //  Noemys McConnell   //  Megan O’Connell   //  Robert Ortega   //  Adaina Plaza   //  Pat Randall   //  Heather Rivera   //  RaeAnne Swanson   //  Michael Webb

Leslie Elsasser - Introduction

Me, Myself and Eye is an online presentation of sixty-seven photographs created by twenty-three military veterans who participated in the Breaking Barriers 2020 photography workshop. The workshop, led by artist Selina Román and assisted by artist Christian Cortés, focused on memory and personal experiences that were expressed through a broad interpretation of self-portraiture. Due to COVID 19, the workshop was conducted virtually, and each artist created photographs with their own cellphone cameras. These original and inventive images tell personal stories and express the interior landscape of each artist, without always sketching a physical likeness. Me, Myself and Eye presents these personal and individual voices to both the local and larger civilian and veteran communities. 

Veterans and their families face many challenges related to war and deployment. As a result of their service, many veterans cope with physical, and often invisible conditions, which affect not only service members but also their spouses, children, extended families and friends. It can be difficult to find words to articulate these hidden conditions, and to express internal thoughts and feelings which escape everyday language. Breaking Barriers offers participants an opportunity to communicate visually and develop a voice through artmaking. 

I would like to thank all twenty-three of the artists represented in this catalogue for their bravery in service but also for their bravery in undertaking a new creative endeavor. I deeply admire their courage to venture into unknown territories. It is nothing short of heroic to plunge into the art world, and to learn a visual language while being both behind and in front of the lens. We thank them for sharing parts of their selves and their stories with us, the viewers. 

I would also like to thank the USFCAM team who worked diligently to make this catalogue and Me, Myself and Eye a reality amidst the challenges of a global pandemic. Thank you to Noel Smith, the Deputy Director of USFCAM, for all of her editing wizardry, guidance and support. To Selina Román and Christian Cortés for their knowledge, artistic visions, and organization, by which they led the participants to shatter their glass ceilings. To Don Fuller and Martha de la Cruz, CAM’s media team, for all of their graphic genius in creating the program’s publicity, social media, and most of all, this catalogue. To Tony Palms, Eric Jonas and Vincent Kral for their framing and installation expertise. To Ashley Jablonski, an enthusiastic and diligent partner, and an ally to all of the participants. To our community partner The James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, specifically Merrilee Jorn and Jason Lind, who have helped us improve the program and who will exhibit Me, Myself and Eye at the hospital in 2021. To Wally Wilson, the Director of USF School of Art and Art History, and Forrest MacDonald for their printing collaboration. I would also like to thank the USF Office of Veterans Success for their continuing support; specifically Dr. Larry Braue, Director; Jason Miller, Associate Director; and Kenneth Nahrwold, Veterans Support Coordinator / Development Officer. 

I am immensely grateful to our funders. Breaking Barriers is made possible by the Community Arts Impact Grant Program of the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, Love IV Lawrence 2020 Waves of Change Grant, and additional support from the ACE Arts for Community Engagement Fund and the Florida Department of State. 

LESLIE ELSASSER
Curator of Education
USF Contemporary Art Museum

For more information:
Email Leslie Elsasser at lelsasse@usf.edu
or Ashley Jablonski at danyele@usf.edu

Breaking Barriers 2020 is supported by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Love IV Lawrence, Hillsborough Arts Council, and the Florida Department of State.