Ume continues her annual Bodies series with 31 Bodies. While the presentation has changed in response to the necessities imposed by the ongoing crises of 2020, the fundamental essence remains the same. It speaks to an art form enduring tumultuous times, from the front seat view of a global pandemic to civil unrest brought on by police brutality.
Both 29 Bodies and 30 Bodies debuted in social spaces, innocently bereft of any concern for unmasked strangers coming together to seek beauty. This book is the embodiment and culmination of that sense of community, and displays the art we would have stood shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart, among others, to see. We see what they see, through the works of 31 artists around the world who worked with reference photos of Ume during quarantine this spring and early summer, in lieu of in-person drawing sessions. Using social media to post her photographic self portraits, Ume empowers her collaborators to easily access her imagery and create their representation using one of her 100+ photo references.
In front-facing poses, Ume chooses to display her abdominal scar from a surgery that once precluded her from art modeling, but now serves as a reminder that this too, shall pass and that in time, injury or violence inflicted on our bodies can be healed. Thus, Ume’s collaborative work finds itself in harmony with the organization, Meditating for Black Lives, as they come together at the intersection of healing through the creation of art and conscious breath.
“ Whatever your suffering, if you find yourself needing to feel more at home in this world and in this body that carries you through it, let a lungful of oxygen fill you up.” — M M Owen
Written by Tran Pham
31 BodieS - DrawMeAtHome book is Available HERE.
Proceeds from 31 Bodies will be given to Meditating for Black Lives.
“ Meditating for Black Lives uses the principles and practices of various meditation traditions to support community efforts to heal oppression. This is a collective endeavor to heal our mind, body, spirit, community, and ultimately our world. We sit in contemplation together to process our absorbed trauma and breathe for the lives of black and brown people, and for all people, throughout the world. We breathe now, because they could not.” — Meditating for Black Lives