Our work is the result of collaboration. Not just in the conceptual sense, but working on the same canvas at the same time. We began creating this way while working on the peace line in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The peace line is a wall that divides neighborhoods between protestant and catholic. Our time in Belfast was spent facilitating art workshops, working with folks from both sides of the divide to help build community. Along with the workshops, we created a commissioned piece of art for the Forthspring Inter Community Center, which bridges the thirty foot wall. We found creating in this way is much like reconciliation. It is a process of listening, respecting, being authentic with one another and trusting. There is also a shared balance of power at all times. One of us may be making a decision about what color paint stroke and where, but that has nothing to do with the "power". The power remains balanced.
We have created paintings that neither of us would have created alone. When we look at our results, we see our individual selves have not been lost. We see both our styles and ideas present but also something more. We talk a little during the process, but most of it is worked out in nonverbal communication with the other. One thing we have noticed is that we don't paint over or paint out something the other has put down without letting the idea (or stroke or color) live for a while and seeing how it fits into the whole. When we have learned all we can from the piece we are working on, together we move on to the next painting to begin a new dialogue.
Chuck + Peg
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