JustArts: How was the work of Lisa Rosowsky chosen to be exhibited at the gallery?

Susan Metrican: Michele L'Heureux, the previous Curator at the Women's Studies Research Center, is responsible for organizing this exhibition. I have only been the Curator for a few weeks, but came on just as the installation for this show was happening, so I had the pleasure of working with both Michele and Lisa during install.

JA: Would you tell us a bit about the exhibition and the message that the artist communicates in her works?

SM: Blood Memory: a view from the second generation, is a solo exhibition of Lisa Rosowsky. With the works in the show, the artist focused on the shared memories and fears of the Holocaust that members of her paternal family experienced and that live in her through "blood memory." The work serves as a memorial to lost family and provides an entry point for conversation about something that is often not spoken about in personal terms.

JA: How long has the exhibition been in the works, and how were the individual pieces selected to be displayed?

SM: The exhibition Blood Memory was first shown in fall 2012 at the Holocaust Museum in Houston, and many of the works are the same, although Lisa included some newer pieces for the Kniznick Gallery.

JA: Rosowsky uses a variety of mediums. How does this range of materials serve to express the message of blood memory in her works?

SM: Lisa uses materials that reflect the delicate nature of memory. I think she is sensitive to the materials she uses as they are almost always identifiable in each work. She chooses linen, gauze, silk or wax for some pieces for their tactile quality, and in some cases their direct connection to history, as in "Designated Mourner," in which she recreated a French mourning dress in silk and wool from a 1901 dress pattern. She often incorporates found objects or personal items, like her aunt's gloves, to tell her family's story. The meaning of Blood Memory comes through in these choices because they feel deeply connected with her life and story.
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-Rachel Hughes