New work: What's another word for 'waiting?'

Hi, kids! Today, “When” is our Word Of The Day. When will we get a handle on the coronavirus infection rate? When will my kids be able to go back to school? It’s like being suspended.

Nobody’s done anything wrong, but the kids are essentially banished from school.

You could even say remote learning is supposed to cushion us from spikes in the COVID-19 infection rates, like a suspension system reduces the impact of outside shocks.

Now that we’ve settled into a “class time” routine, my kids are doing okay and I’ve carved out enough studio time for a new collage. At first, “Suspension” was going to show the teacher, students and the schoolhouse right-side-up.

Lisa Myers Bulmash, “Suspension,” collage on paper

But flipping the image captures the surreal nature of school in the Upside-Down more accurately. I’m still working on a way to visualize my kids’ isolation in a new way, though. I think they (and I) are getting out of the habit of being around people who don’t live with them. Which brings us back to the word of the day: When will they hang out with their friends again, without having to be pried out of our house?

Three collage shows about American horrors (and one that isn't)

How apropos for Halloween: I found three separate art exhibits that feature collage work exploring the horror shows of American prisons and politics. (Seriously, if you’re having trouble sleeping these days, you might want to avoid the following images.)

Chris Santa Maria, “PRESIDENT TRUMP”

If you want one gigantic scare, Chris Santa Maria’s enormous collage should do the job. For four years, the artist collected thousands of Trump and Trump-era-media images to make “PRESIDENT TRUMP.” His Instagram account says he’ll be adding even more to the six-by-six-feet piece during the last weekend before Election Day.

This next collage is only letter-sized, but it might as well be larger-than-life.

James “Yaya” Hough, “Untitled”

Not one, but two exhibits prominently feature collage works about the prison industrial complex. The collage above is part of “Rendering Justice” at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Curator Jesse Krimes gathered work by incarcerated artists, as well as those whose art practice focuses on the impact of prison on all of us. Krimes and four other artists in this exhibit are also showing work in “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” at MoMA PS1 in New York.

Gilberto Rivera, “An Institutional Nightmare”

Still with me? This last exhibit has absolutely nothing to do with the previously-mentioned American nightmares: it’s not even in this country.

John Stezaker, “The Trial”

To see “The Trial” and other works in person, you’d have to go London (the one in England) to visit “At the Edge of Pictures: John Stezaker, Works 1975-1990.” As the title suggests, this is old-school artwork that’s closer to the Surrealist movement than the remixing born from hip-hop. Unsurprisingly, these works feature no references to people of color (as if there were no Black Britons before 1990), which brings me right back to the present. Worldwide protests are connecting Black and brown lives in jeopardy to the art world and election-year politics. I can’t think of anything much scarier this Halloween than this kind of oppression and exclusion.

Jesus H. Christ, Lisa!

Can you see the Divine Light shining out of my face? Google can.

Unknown artist, “Christ’s Blessing” stained glass window at Greensboro Historical Museum, North Carolina

It’s Friday… I’m just having a little more fun with Google’s art selfie app. According to the museum collections included in this app, I could be A) a Mexican/French/Brazilian woman, or B) a solemn toddler, or C) Jesus H. Christ. What do you think?

Selfie match-up with: “Manya LaTour” by Raphael Soyer; “Retrato de Lucy I” by Lasar Segall

Leopold Louis Boilly, “Portrait of Madame Gastellier;” FECK, “Sin titulo (Untitled)”

Speaking of having a little fun: Carla Sonheim’s “Bugs!” art class starts on Monday! I make my appearance on Thursday, October 22nd. Have you registered yet? If not, this is your Official Reminder to make room for some collage fun next week.