Nirmal Raja, Title - "My father's journal", Medium- Soft Sculpture

"Open Circle"
​Belonging, Self & Community Care​

Curated by Pallavi Sharma

Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery, 12501 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon, CA 94583
Reception - September 10th, 2022
Saturday, 3:30 pm to 6 pm
Featuring Filipino American poet and performance artist Arlene Biala
Free and open to the public

Exhibition Dates - September 5th- October 28th, 2022,
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm

Participating Artists
Lydia Nakashima Degarrod
Reiko Fujii
Barnali Ghosh
Betty Nobue Kano
Kathy Fujii-Oka
Namita Paul
Nirmal Raja
Shailly Sharma Bhatnagar
Irene Wibawa
Manon Wada
Maggie Yee
Youth Collaborative Art co-ordinated by Chaitanya Verma

Inner Eye Arts cordially invites you to the Artist Reception of 'Open Circle." The show brings together artists who have created/co-created spaces/artworks honoring their personal needs, desires, or responsibilities while taking a sense of agency and power over their circumstances. The show takes from Audre Lorde's famous quote, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."
It showcases diverse artistic practices centered around self-care through which artists from marginalized communities connect both with the external world and their own experiences. This includes understanding interpersonal acts of compassion, community care, and what it means to be there for one another.

photo credit - Buggsy Malone

Reception - September 10th, 2022
Saturday, 3:30 pm to 6 pm
Featuring Filipino American poet and performance artist Arlene Biala

​Arlene Biala is a Pinay poet and performance artist born in San Francisco and raised in the South Bay. She has been participating in poetry performances and workshops in the Bay Area for over 30 years and was Poet Laureate of Santa Clara County for 2016 and 2017. Her poetry has been described as "grounded in ritual object and ritual practice, mantras that resonate within the body, and plant the body firmly in the world." She is the author of several collections of poetry: bone, continental drift, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book, one inch punch, was published in 2019.

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​Pariticipating Artists 

​Community Youth Art coordinated by Chaitanya Verma 

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