Artist Bio:
Mia Westerlund Roosen is an abstract sculptor known for her large-scale, organic pieces. She lives and works in New York City.
Notes on Process:
When Mia Westerlund Roosen visited OG in 2012, she was deeply concerned with the treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo prison camp. She embarked on a series of drawings on copper and solar plates, depicting both real and imagined fences and barriers, which were symbolic of the imprisonment of the men at the base. Using a variety of techniques such as hard and soft-ground etching, ink drawings, and drypoint, she was able to convey the sense of being held in a place. We added the various chine collé colors of blue and yellow to signify the loss of seeing the sky/sea and the harshness of the relentless sun. The suite is presented in a hand-built portfolio box with a hand-woven “fence” embedded in the top cover, and includes a poem by one of the detainees, titled Ode to the Sea.
