Sacred Colors
Aodhán Ridenour, Community College Allegheny County
Throughout 2020 and 2021, our bedrooms adapted to meet the needs of multitudinous buildings and spaces. Our gyms, offices, dining rooms, classrooms, and art studios all fit inside the walls of one room. During quarantines and shut downs, we did everything in our bedrooms. It was the only place we could go to take off our masks; the only place to feel safe. "Sacred Colors" is a multi-media (gouache, acrylic) 360°, panoramic continuum of my own bedroom, consisting of three 22”x30” pages, placed side-by-side, forming a triptych. Its creation took place over 5 months, amidst the daily (and nightly) events of my bedroom.
Sacred places characteristically contain a slew of sacred objects. As a testimony to its sacred nature, I exclude my own collection of sacred objects from the piece. The exception of these items speaks to what we hold most secret, and consequently hold most sacred. Choosing what we share is correlated with the things and thoughts we do not share. Discretion is our choice; yet not all secrets need to be shared.
As in the past, the bedroom remains a place of creativity for future generations. Choosing who’s allowed to hear our secrets, and see our sacred places, colors them. Experience making choices in color can expand the spectrum of our palettes, help us find peace within our pieces, and more marvelously paint the canvas of our lives.