Unnamed, 2017
mixed medium on paper
Many Mansions, 2016
cut, painted paper (Tyvek), 43” x 54”
Nine, 2017
acrylic paint and wax pigment on paper, 31” x 33”
A Good Habit, A Good Friend, 2017
cut, painted Tyvek
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
Cut Paper Work
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
Pilgrims Carry On
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
Speak Listen Milagro, 2017
Digital image
This is the image provided to artists participating in collaborative “Speak Listen Milagro” project.
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
A Pilgrim Continues Her Way
Axis Gallery is pleased to present “A Pilgrim Continues Her Way”, a solo exhibition of recent paintings, drawings and cut paper work by Roma Devanbu. By accumulating varied and repeated gestures, patterns and forms, Devanbu pays homage to diverse traditions of exuberant embellishment (ranging from the intricate doilies, tatted by a saintly great grandmother, to complex floor tile arrangements, in grand religious architecture, laid by anonymous workers). The work reflects Devanbu’s long standing inquiry into the abiding human impulse to produce art and decoration that knock at the door of the divine.
As a junior at Carnegie Mellon, Devanbu set off on a six-month journey to see sites of art historic importance around the world. As most of these destinations turned out to be sites of religious significance, Devanbu became a defacto, if accidental, pilgrim. In the 40 years since, Devanbu has become a more conscious pilgrim, seeking out temples, wats, mosques, cathedrals and roadside shrines in over 20 countries. Her artwork continues to revolve, with persistence and intention, around the dialogue between art and spirituality.
Devanbu’s exhibition also includes the collaborative “Speak Listen Milagro Project”. (Milagros are tokens, often carried by pilgrims, designed to focus healing where needed.) In response to the deep partisan divide which has imperiled our ability to understand one another, Devanbu invited a group of artists, from around the country, to engage in a visual conversation by transforming her “Speak Listen Milagro” image as they saw fit. Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to join the conversation by creating their own “Speak Listen Milagros” with materials provided on site.
Speak Listen Milagro Project Participants Include: (California) Cheselyn Amato, Mark Emerson, Ianna Frisby, Dixie Laws, Cherilyn Naughton, Lucy Ruth Wright Rivers, Susan Silvester, Danielle Wogulis (Pennsylvania) Michael Smithhammer (New Jersey) Gene Mingola (Oregon) Janine Etherington (Rhode Island) Rio Roye (South Carolina) Galen Warden
Devanbu received her BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University. Before earning her MFA at Pratt Institute she spent a transformative year of graduate study in Art and Art History at the M.S. University of Baroda in India.
Devanbu currently resides in Davis California. She has a long and active exhibition record and is a Resident Studio Artist at Verge Center for the Arts in Sacramento.