LIONESS COLLECTIVE
The Lioness Collective is a small but mighty group of artist-mothers based in Pittsburgh. They had their unofficial inaugural show at Panza Gallery in January of 2020. This is their first participation in a group show facilitated by another organization.
My People
I find comfort in knowing:
in my lineage, mamas and papas
scrunched their noses,
shook their legs after sitting down too long,
roared out happiness, squeezed my
grandmothers so tight they
protested the love -
Yes, yes,
the same
grandmothers who enveloped my mothers,
who folded themselves
around
my
selves,
who reached their fingers down as I do,
so you could grab on and perform my steps,
your feet floating in dance.
— Christen Russo
Olga Brindar
Reimagining the idea of the master copy -- the study of a classical artist’s painting in order to gain insight into technique -- Master Copy (Diptych) is an empirical study of my 14-month-old daughter’s a priori artmaking. By attempting to understand her intuitive process through the imitation of her work, I am in a sense attempting to unlearn my own art knowledge.
Olga Brindar received a BFA with a focus on drawing and painting from Carnegie Mellon University, and has participated in a residency at the Burren College of Art in Ireland. She is a Russian-American artist whose works are typically larger-than-life and depict self-portraits, portraits of family and friends, animal and plant symbolism, and dream imagery.
Situated in the corner, previously deemed a site of disciplinary action for children, ‘Things I tell my daughter that I need to remind myself’ offers a moment of relief, support and reflection for mothers. The open chair invites any mother to take a seat and meditate on a guiding principle that they might have offered to their own child that they could benefit from receiving themselves: Get Your Balance, Slow Down, Take Your Time, It’s Okay To Cry, Just Get Back Up.
Jessica Gaynelle Moss received a bachelors in Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University; a masters in Arts Administration, Policy and Management from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and a masters in Studies of the Law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
My People speaks to the belief that life happens in the mundanity of the everyday; it always has, it will evermore, and in moments of isolation, the community that is formed by one’s forebears might loft you through to the next eruption of joyous presence.
Christen Russo holds a BA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh. There, she served as a contributing writer and managing editor of The Original Magazine. She founded the Exchange of Words poetry reading series (2014-2016). Her poetry has been on display in Panza Gallery (2020) alongside her fellow mother-artists of the Lioness Collective. Other works of hers have been published in two volumes of Voices in the Attic, an anthology by Carlow’s Madwomen in the Attic. Christen lives in Pittsburgh’s North Side with her musical husband, vibrant young daughter, and getting-nicer cat. She is a woman first, and her identity as a writer, poet, doula, wife, mother, friend, and optimist bring joyous texture to her being.