While feeling divided from each other, be it ideologically, racially, or socioeconomically, has become part of the “new normal,” it can also too easily lead us to forget that each of us are a part of a shared American and human experience. Inspired by our rich diversity, Tangled Roots brings artists together from varied backgrounds to enhance a much needed mutual appreciation and heightened awareness of each other’s contributions to the unique beauty of our communities.
This year, from November 2020 to February 2021, we expand the scope of Tangled Roots, as well as our working definition of multiculturalism and community. The exhibition will take a deconstructed form as various artist profiles, images of their work, profiles of local arts leaders and advocates of different backgrounds, and episodes of the docu series I Am George Floyd, produced by the Advocacy and Awareness Group: Johnson County.
These exhibition components will be posted on our social media and here on the Tangled Roots page, so check back periodically, asNew artists and other content will be added throughout the coming months.
We kick off our Tangled Roots exhibition with an interview with ArtHouse studio artist Dr. Hassaballa Omar Hassaballa.
The paintings of Hassaballa Omar Hassaballa are little-known treasures tucked away in his small corner studio at InterUrban ArtHouse.
His works are simple and compact, yet vibrant, each serving as part of the larger mosaic that has been his life - scenes from the village where he grew up, landscapes from the places that have shaped him, abstractions full of meaning, both intended and unintended.
“One definition of art is when you dip your brush into colors, you are dipping your soul into them,” he explains.
Hassaballa paints with an eye for unconditional beauty, simple joy, foundational narrative and with a recurring message of community that is woven into the tapestry of his upbringing.
A native of the White Nile state of Sudan and the son of nomadic goatherds, Hassaballa’s artistic production began as he drew with sticks in the dirt while watching over the livestock, and in writing Quaranic verses with bamboo nibs and handmade ink on wood tablets after attending mosque with his father and grandfather.
Hassaballa attended university in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where he received his undergraduate degree in social anthropology, having been dissuaded from pursuing the fine arts. He first came to the United States to earn his Masters and later his Doctorate in social anthropology from the University of Washington in Seattle. While work on his dissertation - eventually published as a book titled The Kenana Scheme - occupied his intellect, it was the stunning view of Mount Rainier over morning coffee that captivated his heart and soul.
Hasaballa returned to Sudan to teach and research at the University of Juba, and to raise a family, but not long into his tenure he and numerous other academics were conscripted without warning into the Sudanese military. Under the dictatorship of Omar Hassan al-Bashir, university lecturers, researchers and professors all over Sudan were intended as fodder on the frontline of the civil war then raging in the south.
With the help of a professor and friend in Washington state, Hassaballa was able to flee the country with his family shortly before being sent to a war he was intended to die in. Unable to find work as a professor in the U.S., he and his wife and family began caring for the elderly and diabled, a career path that brought them from the Pacific Northwest to Lawrence, Kansas and eventually Olathe, where they now reside.
In 2006 Hassaballa’s works featured in an exhibition at the Lawrence Public Library, and in 2016, he joined an artist’s collective where his work was featured in a solo show, but otherwise he has maintained a relatively low profile.
Tangled Roots Artist Spotlight: Christian Banez
Christian was born in Cebu City, Philippines. In 2001, his family moved to the United States in rural Missouri surrounding long stretches of highway and acres of farming land. Christian is now based in Saint Joseph, MO and currently finishing his BFA in Studio Art. His work is a combination of interpersonal exploration and societal observation, exploring themes that depict changes in identity and relationships, reevaluation of childhood, the contemporary dating scene, and chronicling his experience as a first-generation immigrant in the United States
More at @chrisbanezart
Tangled Roots Artist Spotlight: Diana Rendell
Artist Statement:
Humans have many of methods of communicating with one another. Speaking, listening, writing, making art, creating music and dancing are all small ways that we learn to relate and form bonds with one another. The intricacy of life has always fascinated me. How do we change and grow over time to occupy the space that we are in at any given moment?
Sociology has been a driving force in my work for many years. I use composite imagery to bring the past and present into one vision. My mind is always working to figure out the puzzle of how you and I arrived at this place in time. What steps came before? What choices did you make to bring you here? What choices have I made? How were those choices influenced by others? What trials have shaped us? What compassionate experiences have we live through and learned from? By creating a visual understanding of these life paths through art, we can come to perceive each other and ourselves in a deeper way.
I began this journey into exploring sociology through art when I was unmarried in college. Since then, I have married and have three children. Observing the people closest to me, interacting with them daily, and having a profound impact on other people's lives as seen through this lens of intricate social scaffolding has propelled my imagery to a deeper exploration of meta-cognition. While my art has focused mostly on figurative work, my new work is taking on a deeper visceral nature, examining the guttural self; Exploring deep feelings and desires, emotions and choice through action, texture, color and paint layering present an unnamed nature can be visualized but not verbalized.
River Makenzi
River, a Kansas City Native, has been an artist from day one. She comes from a family full of artistic a type personalities and has expressed herself through various art forms and mediums her whole life. Over the last few years her style has developed into a world of lines, colors, shapes, and patterns… Some have called her work a geometric playground. She associates color and shape with emotion. Each piece is a visual representation of the feelings bouncing around in her head. She is heavily inspired by Frida kahlo, keith haring, takashi murakami, Yayoi kusama, and local artist Hayveyah mcgowan.
Currently, she is building the foundation for her non-profit organization One Mic Stand KC that focuses on arts and education in minority communities as well as curating the gallery space at the Happy Apple Cafe, a local vegan restaurant. Her passion has always been art, exposing others to the healing powers of art, providing opportunities and resources for artists, and creating spaces for art.
Stay connected with her through instagram @rivermakenziyoung and @onemicstandkc
Byron Ashley
America was founded on a bedrock of democracy, that all people have a choice to elect a leader who best aligns with their political ideology. Our two party system has torn a seam in the fabric of our great country and created a huge political fissure. Diplomacy has the power to unite people and bring out the best in the human experience. Unfortunately, diplomacy has gone out the window and our political soup has spoiled.
In my work I provide piercing criticisms and snarky commentary about the current state of affairs. By far the most controversial and polarizing man in global politics, President Donald Trump and his strongman rhetoric caught America by storm and captured the hearts of a faltering Republican base. Through color screen prints, woodblock carvings and etchings I dissect the man who challenged the political status quo and broke the system. I see art as a powerful vessel through which I can process contemporary issues facing America today. Facets of Trump’s persona that my work explores include his lucrative fortunes and his celebrity status. Trump was a TV man before he assumed office and is still the same “business man” that he was in the 80’s.
I see my work as a commentary on the Trump Presidency and the circumstances surrounding it. These unprecedented times we live in have opened my eyes to divide in our country. Politics have always inspired me, I try to channel these opinions into expressions of art. This is by no means Trump fan art, but a critique of America’s broken politics. While I comment directly on Trump, I dissect the most complex man in politics as a symbol of the larger failings of our politics and society.
Learn more at https://www.instagram.com/byronashleyprints/
Aimee Fresia
June 13, 2020, acrylic and collage on panel, 24" x 35" x2", $650
My work is an honest reaction to things I don’t always understand, points of view I cannot fathom and conversations that leave me more angry than enlightened. I often feel overwhelmed with the degree of connectedness that exists in our modern world, and need time to react to what I read or witness. I use collage and painting on canvas or panel to build layers of images and meanings. The climate of our country has led me to feelings of anxiety and worry in a way I have not felt in many, many years, and I find myself drawn to making work constantly. I often have multiple works going at once, as I find the world seems like a safer place when artists express worries and fears, allowing real discussions to happen.
On June 13, 2020, Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed in an altercation with the police at a Wendy’s in Atlanta, Georgia. He was asleep at the wheel. I could not imagine that a white woman (like myself) would be shot for this. Even if I was completely and totally drunk and running away. There was later a photo of the Wendy’s on fire with a man holding a sign that read “Prosecute the Police.” That image spurred my work entitled “June 13, 2020.” I used monoprints I’d made along with magazine scraps to collage a George Clintonesque figure with a sign capturing how I feel with all the racism and systemic problems. Let it all burn and start over.
The undeniable truth is policy affects us all. We are affected by things we don’t agree with and seem to be more and more limited in our ability to object. Divisiveness has led to an inability of real discussion, as both sides seem to be screaming into some sort of abyss. My reaction is to make art about these policies and political players as well as the people who are most impacted. We’re living in a time of great historic significance and it is the duty of art and artists to record human history.
Learn more at
Rita Guile
The Power Of Observation:
We spend so much of our time indoors.However, nature demands our attention and calms and heals us. Developing this work focused me and helped remove the toxic distractions. My piece “Unity” is one of a series. This series includes twenty-three,acrylic on paper images, each 9 x 12 inches. Most of these paintings focus on close-ups of the garden and the forest floor. Coincidentally, this is where I began observations in my painting career nine years ago. My other works are still very important to me such as the Women’s Rights series. Nature reminds us what is relevant. These images are visual metaphors for“Tangled Roots.” Nature is constant, it parallels our lives and symbolizes our unity and cultural similarities.
Learn more at http://www.ritaguile.com/